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LAKE GEORGE 



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A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS 



LAKE GEORGE, 



FROM THE EARLY COLONIAL TIMES 

TO THE CLOSE OF THE 

REVOLUTION. 



B Y B'^^'J-'f D E COSTA. 



•I 





N E W Y O R K . 

1868. 



> 



No._A^ 



S event y -five copies printed. 






THIS work contains the substance of a paper read be- 
fore the New York Historical Society. It is designed 
to give a plain statement of the chief events that occurred 
at Lake George, during the period intervening between 
its discovery by the French, and the termination of the 
war for American Independence. The fragmentary mate- 
rials used have been gathered from many different sources, 
yet it is believed that no essential fact has been omitted, 
through negligence or want of patient research. It would 
prove an easy task to compile a large volume from the 
Englisli and French reports, yet it was the author's design 
to com))ross the material into a small space for a special 
use. There are, nevertheless, periods in the history of 
Lake George that have left no record ; while it should be 
observed that a full history of the Lake would embrace 
the history of a large portion of the state of New York. 

Stuvvesant Park, New York, 18iJ8. 




COLONIAL DAYS 



P A K T I . 




|IIE existence of Lake George was first 
made kuown to Europeans by the French. 
In July, 1609, Champhiin ascended the 
St. Lawrence, in company with a party 
of lluroiis and Algonquins, and sailed across the 
lake which now bears his name. He had joined 
these Indians in an expedition against the 'hostile 
Iroquois, for the purpose of gaining their good will. 
As they proceeded on the way, the Indians described 
the country to be traversed, and the region which was 
inhabited by their enemies. Champlain says, " The 
Indians told me . . . that we must pass by a water- 
fall, which I afterwards saw^ and then enter another 
lake three or four leagues long." That lake was 
Lake George, the outlet of which, at Ticonderoga, 
forms a beautiful fall. This bold explorer never 
saw the lake itself." Encountering their enemies 



{!) — Doc. His. N. Y., Vol. iii. p. 5. (2) — Charlevoix has been 
quoted by various authors, as saying that Champlain passed the rapids 
and sailed up Lake St. Sacrament; yet Charlevoix says nothing of 
the kind. His account of the matter indicates precisely the contrary. 
In the face of Champlain's own statement, Lossing iv/ers that he 
crossed the lake and went as far south as Glen's JFalls. Field Book, 
Vol.i. p. 108. ' 



6 COLONIAL DAYS. 

near Crown Point, whither they had come to meet 
them, the Hurons and their confederates gained an 
easy victory by means of the arquebus of Champhxin, 
and returned with ten or twelve prisoners. 

The first white man who is known to have seen 
Lake George was Father Jogues.' May 29, 1646, he 
was on his way to the Mohawk country, to perfect a 
treaty. Attended by Jean Bourdon, the engineer, who 
was one of the principal residents of Quebec, he ar- 
rived in a canoe at the outlet of the lake on the eve of 
the festival of Coy-jrus Christi^^ and named it Lac du 
St.. Sacrement? Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. By 
the Iroquois it had been known as Andiartarocte,* 
wliicli meant the Tail of the Lake, i. e. the place where 
Lake Chamjjlain closes. The next day they continued 
their course southward, on foot, " with great fatigue, 
for they had to carry on their backs their bundles and 
baggage." The Algonquin guides were forced to leave 
a great portion of their baggage on the border of the 
lake. 



(!) — Isaac Jogues, a member of the Society of Jeeup, was boru in 
Orleans, France, in 1607, and lell a martyr to the Faith in 1646. being 
cruelly murdered by the Mohawks, among whom he was laboiing as 
a missionary. He was the lirst Roman Catholic missionary to enter 
the State of New York. When lie left Canada to go on liis mission, 
he had a presentiment of his coming fate, saying, Iho, nee redibo, 
(2) — A festival kept on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, in 
commemoration of the supposed Real Presence of Christ in the Sacra- 
ment. (3) — In giving it this name, the reference was 7!oMo the purity 
of the water. It was wholly in honor of the festival. ScGJlefatiimsdes 
JesuUes, 1646, p. 15. (4) — Father Bruyasin his MS. work on Mohawk 
Jtadicals, says: " Ganniatarc, & \ake: Ganniatariakte, I pass it with 
something." Potier, in his Huron Grammar, mentions un and nd as 
convertible. Hence tlie form Gavdiiritare. Garocte means, " Go 
quickly." The name *' Horikan " — Silvery Water — lias no authority, 
and is simply a fancy of Cooper's. 



COLONIAL 1) A V S . 7 

The_y readied their destination, accomplished their 
object, and, June 1 G, started on their return. The Re- 
lation says : " They travelled several days by land, not 
without trouble, for they had, like Aiabian horses, to 
carry their victuals and baggage, the brooks being the 
only taverns to be met with. Arriving on the border 
of Lake St. Sacrament, they made canoes, or small 
boats, with bark ; and setting out in them, they pad- 
dled and sailed until the twenty-seventh of the same 
month of June, and then landed at the first French 
habitation."' 

Father Jogues, therefore, was probably the first 
European who sailed upon the waters of the beautiful 
Lake of the Holy Sacrament. 

It is true that others of the Fathers travelled 
in the vicinity about this time. Among them was 
Father Bressani, who was carried away captive by the 
Mohawks in 1644; but he says nothing in his Eela- 
tion- about the lake. 

The map published by the Jesuits in 1 004. indeed, 
has a dotted trail from the south end of Lake St. 
Sacrament to the Mohawk villages ; yet the absurd 
form given to the lake shows that whoever made the 
map had never sailed upon its waters. The trail laid 
down was probably the course pursued by the Indians. 
Father Poncet,^ who was made a prisoner by the 



(1) — Relation 1646, p. 18. Father Jogues hap been represented {see 
Brodhead's New York, p. 423) as returning by the " same route " that 
he came. The authority given is Father Tanner's curious Latin worli, 
compiled chieiiy from the Relations. On this point he is clearly 
wrong, as well as in regard to the date of Father Jogues' return, 
nbich was on the 17th, and not the 16tb, of June. (2) — Col. Doc, 
7x. 46. ndations des Jcsuitcs, 1665, Vol. iii. p. 6. (3) — ib., 1653, 
Vol. p. n. 



O COLONIAL DAYS. 

Iroquois in 1652, is silent respecting the lake. Father 
LeMoyne, who wrote four years later, maintains the 
same reticence. 

January 30, IGGG, the French operations became 
active, and Courcelles, Governor of Canada, left Fort 
St. Theresa to attack the IMohawks near the banks of 
the Hudson, but he returned February 12, without in- 
flicting much injury upon the enemy. Later in the 
year, about the 1st of July, Sorel marched on the same 
errand, and while on his way met a deputation of 
Indians who were going to Montreal to effect a peace. 
Accordingly he returned, and on the 12th of the 
month a treaty was made with the Oneidas, it being 
agreed to " open a trade and commerce by the Lake 
du Saint Sacrement."' 

September 14, Tracy, then Viceroy of Canada, find- 
ing the Mohawks extremely troublesome, sent the 
Governor, Courcelles, with a considerable force, to 
destroy their forts and villages. Tracy himself joined 
the expedition. Considerable success attended their 
efltbrts, though both the Viceroy and the Governor 
were disabled by hardship, and were carried back 
tlie most of the distance by their men, reaching Mon- 
treal in fifty-three days from the time they set out. 
The route taken by these expeditions is not noted 
with accuracy, yet it is highly probable that they 
passed over Lake St. Sacrament. 

In 1668 Fathers Fremin, Pierron, and Bruyas 
went up Lake Champlain, and passed south from 
Ticonderoga by land. Near by the Indians showed 

(1) — Col. Doc; VoLix. p. 46; iii. p. 126. 



COLONIAL DAYS. 9 ■ 

them a place where some water-dwellers exchanged 
iliuts for tobacco. AVe give a translation of the 
account as narrated by the Fathers themselves. They 
say: 

" We arrived at three-fourths of a league from the 
rapids, where Lake St. Sacrament empties. We 
halted at this place without knowing the reason, 
except that we saw our Indians pick up at the water's 
edge, gun-flints almost completely cut. We did not 
then give it any attention, but we subsequently learned 
the mystery, for our Iroquois told las that they never 
foiled to halt at that place to pay homage to a nation 
of invisible men, who dwelt there at the bottom of the 
water, and were engaged in preparing gun-flints almost 
ready for use, for those who passed, provided they 
rendered them their obeisance by offering them some 
tobacco. If they gave much they gave the stones 
liberally. These water-men join canoes like the 
Iroquois ; and when their great chief plunges into 
the water to enter his palace, he makes such a loud 
noise that it fills with terror the minds of all those 
who are not aware of his great genius.'" 

The Indians conversed ou the subject very seriously ; 
but the good Fathers explain that these stones, so 
useful in striking fire, were thrown up by the waves 
during the storms, and that the invisibles aforesaid 
have nothing to do with the matter. 

The reverend Father says in the Relation, that while 
he stopped on an island on Lake Champlain, the rest 
went forward, the boatmen " landing at the end of the 



{l) — Eelations dcs Jesuites, 1668. Vol. iii. p. 5. 



I O COLONIAL D A ^' S . 

Lake dii St. Sacrement, aud preparing for the portage. 
Each one loads himself with baggage and canoes, in 
which, re-embarking, [in Lake St. Sacrament] at last, 
after some paddle-strokes, we left ihem, joyful to have 
reached the end of the lake, whence there lemained 
thirty leagues to make by land." 
r« The language of the Relation is here a little obscure, 
but he i)robably means that only a part of the Indians 
re-embarked. We are, however, informed that the 
Iroquois kept a regular guard at this point. They 
remembered the expedition of Tracy two years befoie, 
and "all the country of the Iroquois was then in 
apprehension of a new army, so that fourteen men 
were continually on the watch at the end of the lake 
to discover the march of the army and give prompt 
news to all the nation, that they might set ambushes 
in the woods to attack and cut us in pieces. But 
instead of enemies," says the Father, " we were angels 
of peace ; and they, instead of lions, were servants, 
and helped us to carry our packages. We marched 
in their company by small days' journeys."' 

We find nothing further of interest, until Waite and 
Jennings crossed the lake on their way to Canada, to 
negotiate for the return of the English, who were 
taken prisoners by the French and Indians at Hatfield 
and Deerfield. Massachusetts, September 19, 1C77. 
Under date of December 1.3, following, it is said : 
" Securing, with some difficulty, an Indian guide on 
whom they could rely, they proceeded to Lake George, 
where, finding a canoe, they crossed to the outlet of 

{!) — Itelations ties Jesuites, 16C8. Vol. iii. p. C. 



COLONIAL PAYS. II 

th;it lake in three days."' From thence they went on 
to St. .John's, and at once found a part of the pris- 
oners. 

In 1G90, hostilities being threatened between the 
French and English, the former at Montreal, Baucroft, 
says, were frequently alarmed by reports that the 
Indians and colonists were building canoes and de- 
scending Lake St. Sacrament.- But on June 21, of 
the next year, the English moved in earnest, and 
Major John Schuyler left Albany to attack Fort La- 
praire. His force consisted of two hundred and sixty 
whites and friendly Indians, of wliich inimber no less 
than sixty-eight were killed and wounded before liis 
return. 

His expedition attracted much attention at the time, 
but resulted in little real good. During this expe- 
dition he sent scouting-parties out on Lake St. Sa- 
crament, as it was then universally called, who ranged 
up and down its waters." The expedition of Colonel 
Philip Schuyler to the same place, the following year, 
does not appear to have gone nearer the lake than 
Ticonderoga. 

In 1692 Menteth, who commanded six hundred 
French, moved during the winter against the Mohawks 
livin<r south of the Hudson, and defeated them with 
considerable loss. It is not so clear that he crossed 
the lake on his way south, yet he returned that way. 
The French report says, under date of March 2 : 
" Came to sleep at Lake St. Sacrament ; several of 



(1) — Attack on Hatfield and Decrfield. Bradford Cluh, p. 32. 
(2) — Bancroft, Vol. iii. p. 184. (3) — Col. Doc, Vol. iii. p. 800. 



12 COL O N I A L !) A Y S^ . 

the Indians left us to hunt, and as they alone were 
master of the prisoners, whom they did not guard very 
strictly, many of them escaped." 

The next morning they moved on, and on the 4th 
they arrived at the place where they had [jreviously 
deposited a quantity of provisions, which they found 
spoiled. This caused a " universal and most rigid 
fast." Some of the party boiled theu" moccasins with 
a few potatoes to satisfy their hunger. They reached 
Montreal on March 17.' 

Queen Anne's war commenced in 1702, and con- 
tinued until 1713. During this war the lake was 
used to some extent, and was, on the whole, the favor- 
ite route to Canada. It involved a portage at Ticou- 
deroga, but it was considered by far the most healthy. 
The war, however, went on for about nine years 
before the quiet of the lake was seriously disturbed. 
At that time the colonists prepared to invade Canada, 
and on August 28 Colonel Nicholson marched with 
four thousand men, one half of whom were Germans 
and Indians. But he had scarcely reached the site of 
the present village of Caldwell, at the head of Lake 
St. Sacrament, when he heard of the failure of Gen- 
eral Hill's expedition against C^uebcc, and received 
orders to return to Albany. 

In 1745 hostilities again broke out with the French, 
who came down by the way of Lake Champlain and 
Fort Edward, in the course of the war destroying 
Saratoga and capturing Fort JMassachusetts, which 
was situated within the limits of WiUiamstown, Mass. 

(1) — Doc. His. N. Y., Vol. i.\. p. 560. 



COLONIAL DAY*. 1 3 

Durini; this war the l.-ike was visited by six hundred 
Duteli and friendly Indians. The former went on a 
scout down the lake in canoes, but did not meet with 
the enemv. Later, the French commander, Devillers, 
sent scouts to the lake, which he calls " Lake St. 
Laurent," who reported that thej- found camps and 
cabins sufficient to accommodate the above-mentioned 
number of men. The camps appeared as if they had 
not been left more than a month. Yet the war closed 
without any hostilities on the lake, which was next 
used to some extent by Indian smugglers. About 
this time a party of the Six Nations, who had deserted 
and established themselves near IMontreal, seem to 
have monopolized the illicit trading between Albany 
and Montreal.' On one occasion they saved the life 
of a captive of another tribe, who had been taken to 
Crown Point, and carried him in tlieir canoes across 
Lake St. Sacrament to his home. 

The next year General Johnson, afterwards Sir 
William Johnson, visited the lake with several tribes 
of Indians. He tells ns in his account of the Oneidas, 
that tills tribe often used a tree as a symbol of stability, 
but that their true symbol is a stone, called Onoga. 
His visit to the lake was marked only by the setting 
up of the Indian signs. He writes : " I went on Lake 
St. Sacrament in ITiC, when, to show the enemy the 
strength of our Indian alliance, I desired each nation 
to affix their symbol to a tree, to alarm the French. 
The Oneidas," he says, " put up a stone, which they 
painted red."" 

(l)_Colden'8 Five Katioui', Vol. ii. p. 121. (2) — Uoc. His. N. Y., 
Vol.iv. p.2TL 



14 C O I, O X I A 1. 1> A Y s . 

In tlie year 1749 Kalm, the Swedish traveller, 
intended to pass down the lake, but was finally obliged 
to go by the way of Whitehall, though he testifies that 
the common route at that time lay over St. Sacrament, 
which indicates that the lake was well known. 

We find no record of anything of much interest in 
connection with the lake from this time forward, until 
the year 1755, when, on the 28th of August, General 
Johnson built a military road, and, marching to the 
lake, encamped at its head with a small army, designed 
to operate against Crown Point, and repel the aggres- 
sions of the French, who were now preparing to assert 
their claims to a large part of the country. Immedi- 
ately on his arrival he changed the name of the lake, 
and ordered that it should in the future be known as 
Lake George, " not only," as he said, " in honor of 
his Majesty, but to ascertain his undoubted dominion." 
This change was one that must ever be regretted, 
since no more beautiful or appropriate name could be 
suggested than that given by the devout Father Jogues, 
by which it was known for more than a century. 
" Lake Jogues," would be preferable to Lake George. 

When Johnson reached the lake he found the whole 
country covered with primeval woods, where, he says, 
though not with exact truth, " no house was ever 
liefore built, not a spot of land cleared." And while 
he was here engaged in making preparations to 
advance, the French general, Dieskau, made his 
appearance near the southern spur of French Moun- 
tain, with an army of two thousand men, a portion of 
whom were Indians. 

A council of war was held on the morning of Sep- 



COLONIAL I) AYS. 1 5 

tember 8, when it was resolved to send a force to 
meet the enemy. General Johnson at first proposed 
a somewhat small number of men for this service ; 
but the old Mohawk sachem, '■ King Hendrick," a 
firm friend of the English, declared that the force was 
insufficient. " If they are to fight," said the chief, 
" they are too few ; if to be killed, they are too many." 
Again, when Johnson proposed to divide the force into 
three parties, he took three sticks, and said : " Put 
these together and you cannot break them : take them 
one by one, and you can break them easily." Thus 
the question was settled, and Colonel Williams was 
placed in command of twelve hundred men, among 
whom was a body of Mohawk Indians under Hen- 
di'ick. 

Colonel Williams met the enemy at a brook four 
miles east of the lake, where the road to Glen's Falls 
now passes, and was unfortunately drawn into an 
ambush laid in the form of a half moon. The enemy 
ac once opened a galling fire, under which the English 
force was mowed down like grass. The aged Hen- 
drick, who rode horseback and directed the movements 
of his men, fell from his saddle, mortally wounded ; and 
Colonel Williams was killed by a bullet, while stand- 
ing on or near a rock, (which is still pointed out,) 
giving his orders. Colonel Whiting immediately suc- 
ceeded to the command, and ordered the troops to fall 
back to the main body at the lake, from whence rein- 
forcements had already been sent to their aid. This 
movement was accomplished with coolness, notwith- 
standing the previous blunder. 

Dieskau rapidly followed, and at eleven o'clock 



l6 COLONIAL DAYS. 

reached the eminence where the slight earthwork 
called Fort Gage was afterwards built. Hoyt, who 
conversed with several soldiers engaged in the battle, 
gives an account of their impressions when they saw 
the disciplined Frenchmen appearing on the hill : 
" The regulars advanced in a column of platoons, then 
a novelty to j)rovincial troops, and as the day was fine, 
their polished arras glittered through the tops of the 
intervening trees like masses of icicle, multijilying 
tlieir number ten-fold."^ 

Johnson's camp was situated near the site of the 
ruins of Fort George, where he had formed a slight 
breastwork of logs, and was somewhat prepared to 
meet him. After a brief delay the enemy attacked 
with much fury, and the battle raged for a period of 
five hours. Dieskau's Indians, however, feared the 
artillery of the English, and the French were unable, 
with all their exertions, to carry the position. Finally 
they gave up the attempt and retreated, the English 
Jumping over the breastworks and pursuing for some 
distance. At sunset the remnant of the French army 
halted near the scene of the morning engagement, and 
while refreshing themselves there, were suddenly 
attacked by two hundred New Hampshire men from 
Fort Edward, under Captain McGinnis. They were 
at once routed, and fled in dismay, leaving all their 
baggage, while the blood of the slaughtered men 
mingled with the water of a shallow pond, which has 
since been known as " Bloody Pond." 

General Johnson was wounded earlj' in the engage- 

(1) — Aiitiquariau Uesearclies, p. 276. 



C O L O N I A L D AYS. I 7 

nifiit at his cnmp. nnil retired to his tent, tuniiiiir over 
the command to General Lyman, ^ho stood in the 
most exposed jjositions, coolly giving his orders and 
cheering on the men nntil the victory vsas secured. 
Still. Johnson did not have the magnanimity even to 
mention Lyman in his despatches, though in his tent 
he admitted the great value of his services. A con- 
spiracy' was even formed among certain of the officers 
to accuse Lyman of cowardice. The conspiracy failed, 
but that brave man was kept from the enjoyment of 
his just reward. On the other hand General Johnson 
obtained great credit, and, in addition to the grant 
of a large sum of money by Parliament, was created 
a baronet. 

In this engagement the intrepid Dieskau was 
woinided- and taken prisoner. His motto — Valor 
wins — signally failed in this instance. His whole 
army might have been either destroyed or captured, if 
the advantage gained had been followed up. Lyman 
strenuously advocated this policy, but Johnson thought 
it unsafe. 

The troops engaged were chiefly from New England, 
New York furnishing only eight hundred. The loss 
was estimated at about tliree hundred in killed and 
wounded. The French lost from four to six hun- 



(1) — Kevicw of Mil. Operations in N. A., 1755-6. Scries B, p. 64. 
(2) — He was wounded twice. Some authorities say tliat the second 
shot — a severe one in his hips — was given by a renegade Frencli- 
man : while others aHirm that it was tired by one of the Kuglisli, who, 
on approaching the wounded general to make him a prisoner, saw 
him put his hand in his breast as if to draw a pistol, whereas he was 
simply feeling for hie watch. Dieskau died in Surcuuc, France, from 
the etfect of his wounds, September 8, 1767. 



15 COLONIAL DA Y S . 

dred. They retreated to Crown Point an<l alian- 
doned the campaign. 

Tliis was tlie first battle fouglit at Lake George. It 
was of great importance, both inasmuch as it rebuked 
the arrogant assumptions of the French, and taught 
them the hopelessness of seeking to divide the common 
interests. The residt filled the whole country with 
the wildest joy, and the people everywhere began to 
take heart. 

Before leaving this subject, however, it may be 
proper to notice the spirit displayed by New York, 
then distracted by internal dissensions, and imder 
the influence of the wrong leaders. The struggle 
going on was upon New-York ground, and was more 
especially designed for the protection of her ]ieople. 
The French power was in the ascendant, and an 
easy route by water was open between Montreal and 
the city of New York. The French fully announced 
their ambitious designs by the estabishment of a fort 
and colony at Crown Point twentj-five years before ; 
and yet the people of New York, who at this time 
numbered not less than 55,000, seemed, on the whole, 
altogether too willing to yield their backs to the smiter. 
" But," saj-s Smith, in his history of New York, " a 
very different spirit prevailed in tlie eastern colonies ; 
for, upon the southern defeat, Massachusetts added 
eight hundred, and Connecticut fifteen hundred, men 
to the forces already under Genei'al Johnson's com- 
mand."' And when New York complained that tlie 
funds granted by Parliament to the Colonies were not 

(D — Smilli, Vol.ii. 2GL 



COLONIAL I> A Y .S . 1 9 

justly divided, tlio agent sai<l, uniuiio- (itlier things, l)y 
the way of reply, that the New Englanders had "in a 
measure become the Swiss of the continent, in which 
quality they are not unacceptable."^ In fact, this year 
Massachusetts had every fifth able-bodied man in the 
field. 

It is true that the figures have been used to show 
that New York at this time contributed her full quota. 
Yet, in a crisis like that of 175.5, there was no time to 
talk of quotas. The knife of the savage was at her 
throat, but there was no popular uprising ; while 
Governor DeLancey, who affected considerable zeal, 
contented himself by sending the home government 
the preposterous story that New York had furnished 
three thousand men for Shirley's e.vpedition to Niag- 
ara. It has been said that if the New England men 
did the fighting they were paid for it. But if they 
were paid they were not paid by New York. It 
would be every way unjust to view the New England 
troops as mercenaries. " Come," said Pomeroy, who 
represented the true spirit of New England, " come to 
the help of the Lord against the mighty ; you that 
value your holy religion, and your liberties, will spare 
nothing, even to one half of your estate." 

During the months of October and November, the 
troops were engaged in building a fort on the site now 
occupied by the Fort "William Henry Hotel. It was 
named in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, brother 
of George III. 

About this time a series of scouting expeditions 

(1) — Smith, Vol. ii. 261. 



20 C O I, f) X I A L DAYS. 

was commenced. They were continued at intervals 
for two or three years. These expeditions were 
chiefly conducted by Rogers and his Rangers. He 
was often accompanied by Israel Putnam, who, in the 
Revolutionary army, ranked nest to Washington. 

October 14, Rogers, Putnam, and a soldier named 
Butterfield, embarked from Fort "William Henry in a 
birch canoe for Crown Point, then in possession of the 
French. They landed nine miles from the outlet of 
the lake, and then travelled on foot to the vicinity of 
the fort where they lay in ambush. "At length," they 
say, "a frenchman Came out Towords lis without 
his Gun and Came within fifteen Rods of Where we 
lay then I with another man Run up to him In order 
to Captivate him — • But he Refused To Take (Juorter 
so we Kill.d him and Took of his Scalp in plain sight 
of the fort then Run and in plain view about Twenty 
Rods and made our Escape."' 

Such is the account signed by Rogers and Putnam ; 
yet it is hard to believe that an unarmed man would 
refuse to take quarter, under the circumstances. We 
must rather put it down as one of those barbarous 
acts in which Rogers delighted. 

One Captain Doolittle reports that he went on a 
scout to Ticonderoga, October 24, 1755, and that 
" after a tedias march over hills and holes we Indoav- 
oured to Disscover ye french on this side ye Carrying 
Place but Could not hear of any of ye Chojiing or 
Sliooting or Druming we went Down To the lake but 
Could not Disscover them." Crossing over to Ticon- 

(1) — Doc. Hist. K. Y., Vol. i. p. 175. 



C O L O N I A I, I) A V S . 2 1 

deroga he saw the Frencli from a distance "light up ye 
fires and Beat ye Drums there a|i|iears to be about 
150 Tents [and] some small Boarden llouseu." He 
afterwards attempted other observations, but a thick 
fog set in and " our Provision being spent Could 
tarrer no Longer God knows whether we Ever Get 
home if we Do I would Humbl}' Present these few 
Lines to Gen!. Wm. Johnson."' This gives a fair 
idea of the literary character of these rejjorts. 

October 29, while the autumnal foliage of the lake 
was still in its glory, Robert Rogers and Israel Putnam 
went down the lake on a scout. On the 31st they 
" made a Discovry of a nomber of fires By night Scit- 
uated on a Point of Land on ye West Side of ye 
Lake," upon which they landed half a mile distant on 
the same side. The next morning they sent spies, who 
found four tents and some fires, whereupon Rogers 
sent back to Fort William Henry for reinforcements. 
He then took a boat and went down to within twenty- 
five rods of their fires, and discovered " a Small Fort 
with Several Small Log Camps within ye Fort which," 
he says, " I Judged to Contain about 1-4 of an acre. 
Said Fort being open towards ye AVater The rest 
Picketted." The next morning, Putnam, who had also 
gone over to reconnoitre, returned and reported that 
the enemy's sentry was posted twenty rods from their 
fires. Putnam went forward untU he came " so nigh 
that he was fired upon by one of ye Centeries within 
a Rod of him. But unfortunately upon Preparing to 
Fire upon him fell into a Clay Pit and wett his Gun 

(1) — Doc. Hist. N. York, Vol. iv. p. 175. 



22 C O L U N I A 1, l> AYS. 

made ye Best retreat he was able, hearing ye Enemy 
Close to their Heels.'" Afterwards the French rallied 
and endeavored to bring the English between a cross 
fire on the lake ; but the latter detected the ruse, 
launched their batteaux, and opened a tire with the 
swivels or "wall peices," which were mounted on 
board. This had the desired effect, and " divers " of 
the French were killed. Putnam, who at this junc- 
ture was on the shore, was in great danger again ; but, 
hurriedly launching his batteau, he joined the rest of 
the party, though not before the enemy, who made him 
a special mark, had " Shot thro' his Blanket in Divers 
Places." Finally, the English " put ym to ye Bush." 
When they " Got fairly into ye Lake,''' says the 
report, we " Lay upon Our Oars and Inqtiired after 
the Circomstances of ye Party. Found none Killed, 
but one AVounded which Gave Joy to all of us after 
so Long an Engagement which I Judge was near 2 
liours."^ Putnam was now in training for the great 
work that he was afterwards to do in the War of the 
Revolution. 

The report of James Connor of Colonel Cockcroft's 
regiment, who went on a scout November .5, shows 
the location of the stockaded fort which was the scene 
of Putnam's adventure. It ajjpears that the French 
had now posted their advance guard on the east side 
of the Narrows. Connor found their fires on the night 
of November .5, when he fell back four miles and 
passed the next night in the mouth of a " little creek " 
ou the east side — probably Siielving Fall Creek. 

(1) — N. York Doc. Hist., Vol. iv. p. 176. (2) — ib. 



C O L O ^' I A L DAYS. 23 



The next day he went with two men over the hills ou 
the east side of the lake, until he came opposite the 
fort on the west side, where the lake was about three 
hundred yards wide. Here they saw the French 
come down to the water and carry up timber on hand- 
spikes to the encampment. They also heard " work- 
men chopping and hammering," and saw "a breastwork 
round their encampment with pickets.'" 

This was probably what is called Friend's Point, 
near Anthony's Nose, at least if their estimate of dis- 
tances is correct. Connor says that he built a fire on 
an island twenty miles from Fort William Henry, 
though, according to his own statement, this island 
must have been south of the Narrows, which are only 
fourteen miles from the head of the lake. But his 
account is not perfectly clear, and, possibly, the location 
of the fort in (juestion was at the more advantageous 
position afforded by Sabbath Day Point. 

The scouting was carried on by the use of boats 
until the lake was frozen over, when- it was continued 
by parties going over the ice with snow-shoes and 
sleds. 

In 175G the Earl of Loudon assumed the command 
of the English forces in North America. His plan 
contemplated a general attack upon the Canadas. 
One portion of his army was designed to move against 
Niagara ; another was to attack Fort du Quesne ; a 
third was to cross the country from Cambridge and 
operate on the river Chaudiere, while the fourth was 
to attack Crown Point. In accordance with this plan, 



(1) — N. York Doc. Hist., Vol. iv. p. 178. 



24 C O I, O N I A L PAYS. 

six thoiisanil men now assembled near the head of 
Lake George to attack the latter position. The colo- 
nial authoi-ities gave the command of this force to 
General Winslow, before Loudon reached New York ; 
but when this came to liis knowledge he wished to 
supersede Winslow by Abercrombie, who was one of 
the regular officers. Before this and similar disputes 
could be settled, the season passed away, and the 
troops were sent back to Albany and New Yoi'k. 

It is universally conceded that Loudon was a weak 
and inefficient commander, and totally disqualified for 
the position in which favoritism placed him. If 
remarkable for anything, it was for his insolence and 
tyranny ; of the which the citizens of New York had 
no small experience. Franklin, in his Autobiog- 
raphy,' gives us a view of his character. It appears 
that Franklin had occasion to visit Lord Loudon's 
oHice in New York, where he met a Mr. Innis, who 
))r<iught the despatches of Governor Denny from 
Philadelphia, the answer to which he expected the 
next day. Meeting him a fortnight afterwards. Dr. 
Franklin expressed liis surprise because he had not 
returned. Mr. Innis explained that he had called 
every day, but the despatches were not ready. " Is it 
possible," said Franklin, " when he is so great a 
writer ? I see him constantly at his escritoire." 
"Yes," said Innis, "but he is like St. George on the 
signs ; always on horseback, but never rides forward." 

At one time Lovidon had no less than fifty thousand 
trooiis under his command, of which large number 

(1) — .Spiirks- Lil'o, p. 2J!). 



COLONIAL I) A Y S . 25 

fifteen tlionsaud were frnm the Old ]i;iy State, then 
not at all in danger. With this force, .an able com- 
mander might have crushed out the entire pojjidation 
of Canada ; and yet nothing was done for the country. 
This season, however, there was, as usual, more or 
less scouting, with frequent attacks by the French and 
Lidians upon the English teamsters. 

July 7, Rogers, being down the lake with his 
Rangers, took several French prisoners. This hard- 
hearted wretch coolly says in his official report, that 
" one of the wounded could not march ; therefore ])ut 
put an end to him to prevent discovery."' The cir- 
cumstances of the case fulh' prove that this barbarous 
act admitted no justification. 

July 18, Rogers went into the camp, near Sara- 
toga, " with eight captives and four scalps."- 

But though Loudon did nothing during the summer, 
the cold season was not allowed to pass in quiet. 
March 18, 1757, a force of French and Indians under 
Rigaud, attempted to surprise Fort AVilliam Ilenrj'. 
After a careful examination of the position, Rigaud 
found that, owing to the vigilance of the garrison, it 
would be impossible to storm the fort. Accordingly, 
he turned his attention to the destruction of the bat- 
teaux and other vessels, in wliich attempt he was, at 
first, not very successful. The next day he invested 
the fort on all sides, and called upon the commander 
to surrender, which he refused to do, saying that he 



(1) — Doc. Hist., Vol. iv. p. 185. (2) — From the unpublished MS 
Journal of the Kev. Jolm (iraham, Chaplain to the Connecticut 
troops. 



26 COLONIAL DAYS. 

should defend himself as long as possible. On the 
next night the French again resorted to the use of 
fire, and as the English opposed them with only a few 
shot and shells, they succeeded in burning more than 
three hundred batteaux, besides three sloojjs that were 
caught in the ice, and a storehouse filled with provis- 
ions and munitions of war. The absence of wind on 
that night saved the fort itself from destruction. The 
next two nights the snow prevented all operations. 
On the 2 2d a final attempt was made upon a new 
sloop on the stocks, whose bowsprit almost touched the 
bastion of the fort. In this they were successful. 
They also burned two other storehouses ftdl of provis- 
ions, the hospital, a saw-mill, and more than twenty 
buildings.' On the 23d they decamped witli a large 
amount of plunder. 

Stark was in the fort at the time, and doubtless 
rendered good service ; but the dramatic story of his 
saving the garrison from surprise, which is told in his 
Life, has no foundation in fact. The French did not 
attempt any assault, nor did they cut holes in the ice 
to dispose of the bodies of their slain, as that narrative 
claims." 

Emboldened by Eigaud's success, and influenced by 
the withdrawal of a large portion of the troops from 
the vicinity of the lake, who had been ordered away 
to Louisburg to share in the miserable failure of Lord 
Loudon, the commander-in-chief, Montcalm, deter- 
mined to make one more attempt against Fort William 



(D — Col. Doc, Vol. X. p. 571. (2) — Stark's Slcraoir of JoUu 
Stark, p. 20. Lossiiig's Field liook, Vol. i. p. 110. 



COLO S 1 A L 1> A Y S . 2^ 

HeniT. Accordingly, on the 12tli of Jnly following, 
an army of nine thousand French and Indians, under 
Montcalm, left Montreal fully equipped, and with a 
formidable train of artillery. 

The best account of the expedition is given hv an 
eye-witness, Father Roubaud, who attended the Al>e- 
nakis Indians as their priest and adviser. He says in 
his journal :i ""We traversed the length of Lake 
Champlain, where the dexterity of the Indian furnished 
us with an amusing spectacle. Standing up in the 
bow of his canoe, with sjjear in hand, he darted it with 
wonderful address, and struck the large sturgeons, 
without their little skiffs, which the least irregular 
motion would have overturned, appearing to lean 
in the slightest degree to the right hand or the left. 
. . . The fisherman alone laid aside his paddle, but in 
return he was charged to provide for all the others, 
an office in whose duties he fully succeeded." 

At the end of six days they came iu sight of the 
fortifications at Ticonderoga, which place had been 
appointed as a general rendezvous for the forces. As 
the Indians approached the shore, they arranged them- 
selves in the order of battle, each tribe under its own 
ensign. " Two hundred canoes thus formed in beau- 
tiful order," he saj-s, "furnished a spectacle that caused 
even the French officers to hasten to the banks." 

"\^niile the army lay at Ticonderoga, several prelim- 
inary engagements occurred on Lake George. 

July 21, M. de St. Ours,* who was scouting at 

(1) — Kip's Early Jesuit Missions, p. 144. (2) — Col. Doc, Vol. .\. p. 



28 COLONIAL DAYS. 

Me a la Barque, with teu men, was attacked by five 
English barges, each carrying sixteen men. There 
were also one hundred English on the shore. Yet 
St. Ours made so good a defence that he was able to 
escape with the loss of four — three slightly, and one 
mortally, wounded. The English loss, though exag- 
gerated by the French, was probably considerable. 
This took place at Harbor Island, a little south of 
Sabbath Day Point. 

July 23, M. Marin, who had been sent toward 
Fort Edward with one hundred and fifty men, mostly 
Indians, attacked the English outposts, and inflicted 
considerable loss, returning to Ticonderoga in safety, 
with no less than thirty-two scalps.' 

July 20, Colonel John Parker, of the New Jersey 
regiment, was sent down the lake to reconnoitre, with 
a large party of men in boats. He was severely 
defeated, his force being completely cut in pieces. 
The French report says that about four hundi'ed 
Indians, under M. de Corbiere, lay in ambush among 
the islands above Sabbath Day Point, and that when 
Colonel Parker's party had advanced too far to retreat, 
they attacked and defeated them with great slaughter. 
Only two barges escaped, and one hundred and eighty 
of the English were taken prisoners. This was 
acknowledged to be a severe disaster.^ No less than 
a hundred and thirty-one were killed outright by the 
savages, who pursued them by land and water, merci- 
lessly cutting them down. Only twelve were so fortu- 



(1) — Col. Doc, Vol. X. p. Mil. (2) — ib., D94. I'cuu's Arcliivcs, 
472. Kip's Early Jesuitt;, i». I.j2. 



C O L O N I A r. DA y 



29 



nate as to esrajie liotli fa])tivi(y anil flcatli. The 
prisoners were treated by tlie Indians witli the most 
horrible barbarity. Father Eoubaud, who gives an 
account of their atrocities, liardly dared to raise his 
head, expecting to see the English murdered before 
his eyes. Eventually his fears proved too true, and 
he was obliged to witness a spectacle more hcnTililc 
than anything he had yet seen. He writes : " My 
tent had been placed in the middle of the camp of the 
Outaouacs. The first object which presented itself to 
my eyes on arriving there, was a large fire, while the 
wooden spits fixed upon the earth gave signs of a 
feast. There was indeed one taking place. Pnit, () 
heavens ! what a feast ! The remains of the body of 
an Englishman were there, the skin stripped off", and 
more than one half the flesh gone. A moment after, 
I perceived these inhuman beings eat with famishing 
avidity of this human flesh ; I saw them take up this 
detestable broth in large spoons, and apparently with- 
out being able to satisfy themselves with it. They 
informed me that they had prepared themselves for 
this feast by drinking from skulls filled with human 
blood, while their smeared faces and stained lijis gave 
evidence of the truth of the story. "What rendered it 
more sad was, that they had placed very near them 
some ten Englishmen to be spectators of their infamous 
repast." 

The good man was powerless in the midst of these 
barbarities, and his appeals in behalf of the prisoners 
were met by threats or gibes, the savages in one 

(1) — Kip's Early Jesuits, p. loo. 



30 COLONIAL DAYS. 

instance replying by offering liim a piece of broiled 
human flesh. The prisoners were at last taken out of 
their hands by IMontcalni, and sent under guard to 
Montreal. 

On the first of August the main body of the army 
finally embarked on Lake George, the Chevalier Levi 
having marched, three days previous, down the west 
side of the lake, with a force of three thousand men, to 
protect those who were to follow on the water. The 
barges sailed at two o'clock in the afternoon, and 
soon left " Bald Mountain," (Rogers Slide) " to 
the north." Afterwards they " doubled a cape," 
(Anthony's Nose) and remained there during a severe 
storm which lasted six hours. They also " tarried a 
short time opposite to the Sugar Loaf." Father 
Roubaud says that they had not gone more than four 
or five leagues before they saw the proofs of their 
victory of the 24th. lie writes : " There were the 
abandoned English boats, . . . but the most striking 
spectacle was the great number of the . dead bodies of 
the English." Some were lying on the banks, and 
others were floating in the water. 

The next morning at daybreak. Father Roubaud 
reached " the Bay of Ganasouke," (Northwest Bay, 
near Bolton,) and landed near de Levi's camp. At 
10 o'clock de Levi marched forward, and at noon 
Montcalm moved on in the boats, now with the artil- 
lery in the van. In the evening two boats came down 
the lake from Fort William Ilenry, while the fleet 
was quietly winding along the dusky shore of " Sandy 
Bay." The English, perceiving the boat which be- 
longed to llie |)riests, then covered liy an awning. 



C O I. O N I A I, DAYS. 31 

steered for it unsuspectingly, as if too see what it was. 
As they apjiroached, a sheep in the boat Ijappened to 
bleat, when they took the alarm and endeavored to 
escape. The silence with which these operations had 
been conducted now ended, and twelve hundred sava- 
ges suddenly flew to the pursuit, uttering the most 
horrid cries. The English first gained the land, 
deserted their boats, and fled to the woods ; but not 
until four of their number had been killed and two 
taken prisoners. Father Roubaud says that when 
the account of the aflflur came to Montcalm, he was 
" charmed with the detail," and retired to make his 
plans for the next day. During the night, however, 
the army continued to move on, and reached the bay 
on the west side of the lake, near P'ort AVilliam Henry. 
The artillery did not arrive until daybreak. It con- 
sisted of thirty-two cannon and five mortars, placed 
on platforms and borne on boats. In passing around 
the point, now called Cramer's Point, the batteries 
came in full view of the English, who were saluted by 
a " general discharge," which at " this time was mere 
ceremony, but it announced more serious matters." 

The lake now resounded on all hands with the 
sounds of war, and everything was in motion. Fort 
William Henry, which the French sometimes called 
Fort George, is described by Father Roubaud as " a 
square, flanked by four bastions ; the curtains were 
strengthened with stakes, the trenches were sunk to 
the depth of eighteen or twenty feet." The walls were 
built of pine trees covered with sand. It mounted 
nineteen cannon and four or five mortars, while the 
garrison consisted of five hundred men. Seventeen 



32 COLONIAL DAYS. 

hundred men occupied a fortified camp on the site of 
the ruins of Fort George. Montcalm landed on the 
west side of the lake, a short distance from the Lake 
House, and jdanted his batteries about seven hundi-ed 
yards from the fort. He afterwards marched his 
regular troops to a position south of the fort, sending 
LaCorne with seventeen hundred French and Indians 
a little further on, where they could hold the rciad 
leading to Fort Edward. He then called upon 
Colonel Munroe to surrender, which demand he i)osi- 
tively declined, as he was expecting immediate rein- 
forcements from General "Webb. 

The siege lasted six days, during which time the 
fort was defended with great vigor, though without 
much loss of life on either side. Aid was earnestly 
requested of General Webb, whose troops were 
anxious to march to the rescue ; Init that cowardly 
officer finally decided to do nothing, and advised 
Colonel Munroe to surrender, who, seeing the hope- 
lessness of his situation, agreed to capitulate. On the 
morning of August 9, at seven o'clock, a white flag 
was hoisted on the fort, and the surrender was made 
on the conditions that the garrison and the troops of 
the intrenched camp should march out with the honors 
of war, carrying away arms and baggage, and take 
with them one cannon, out of respect for the gallant 
defence they had made, and be furnished with a 
sufficient escort to Fort Edward. The French accord- 
ingly took possession at noon. 

Father Koubaud says that the terms of caijitulation 
were submitted to the Indian chiefs, and that the 
articles were ■• universally ai)plMuded." Yet tlic com- 



COLONIAL DAYS. 33 

pact was soon violated in tlie most horrible manner. 
The Indians were thirsting for blood and jiluuder, and 
even while the military ceremony of taking possession 
was going on, they penetrated through the embrasures 
of the fort into the casemates where the sick re- 
mained who could not march out of the fort with their 
companions. Some of these were among the first vic- 
tims of savage cruelty. Father Roubaud witnessed 
their atrocities. He writes : " I saw one of these bar- 
barians come forth out of the casemates, which nothing 
but the most insatiate avidity for blood could induce 
him to enter, for the infected atmosphere which exhaled 
from it was insupportable. lie carried in his hand a 
human head, from which streams of blood were flow- 
ing, and which he paraded as the most valuable prize 
he had been able to seize." " But," he continues, 
" this was only a slight prelude to the tragedy of the 
morrow. Early in the morning the Indians began to 
assemble about the intrenchments, demanding of the 
English everything valuable which their greed}' eyes 
could perceive. . . Nor were these requirements re- 
jected by the English. They undressed, they stripped 
themselves, to purchase their lives." In the mean- 
while the troops detailed to attend them on the 
march to Fort Edward, arrived and hastily formed, 
and the English began to file out. Says Father 
Roubaud : " Woe to those who closed the march, or 
the stragglers whom illness or any other reason sepa- 
rated from the main body ! They were as good as 
dead, and their lifeless bodies soon covered the ground. 
. . . This butchery, which was at first only the work 
of a few savages, became the signal which transformed 



34 C O L O N I A L 1) A y s . 

them into so many ferocious beasts. Tliey discliarged 
riglit and left heavy blows with their hatchets on those 
who came witliin tlieir reach." 

The number that fell in massacre, which filled the 
])ublic mind with horror, varies greatly. Father Kou- 
baud says the number killed did not exceed forty 
or fifty, and adds : " The patience of the English in 
thus being contented to bow their heads to the weapons 
of the executioner, had the effect of shortly stop- 
))iiig the slaughter ; but," he adds, •' this did not 
turn the savages either to reason or eijuity. With 
fearful cries they engaged themselves in making 
prisoners." 

The most of the accounts of this affair are wild 
exaggerations, the loss by death and captivity being 
placed at from five hundred to fifteen hundred. 
The first victims were the negroes and friendly In- 
dians.' Speaking of the conduct of the former during 
the siege, one of the gunners wrote that " Our blacks 
behaved better than the whites."- 

It would be difficult to exonerate Jlontcalm from 
all blame. He might have anticipated the events that 
occurred, and j)ro\ided a sufficient safeguard. Le 
Corne, who indeed promised much in the way of pro- 
tection to the English, did little ; and Carver, in his 
journal, mentions one French soldier who repulsed 
the English with abusive language when they appealed 
fur protection. Yet it would be unjust to ignore the 
conduct of many of the French officers and soldiers 



{!) — Iloyt says tliat one friendly Indian was burned. Ant. Re- 
searches, p. 290. (2) — Col. Doc., Vol. vi. p. 1005. 



COLONIAL DAYS. 35 

wlio ]iaz;xi-(k'd tlieir own lives to save those of the 
English. Father Roubaud, the good priest of the 
Abenakis, was every way true to his profession, and 
labored earnestly to rescue the victims of savage cru- 
elty. Among others, an infant separated from its 
mother, and had fallen into the hands of a relentless 
chief, who threatened it with death, unless ransomed 
hj a scalp. This child was saved by the priest, who 
obtained a scalp from the stock of one of his own 
Indians. Father Roubaud, after getting possession of 
the child, carried it in his arms until he secured an 
P^nglish woman to act as its nurse. This woman had 
possession of the cliild but a few hours before its 
mother appeared, and, frantic with joy, clasped it in 
her arms. 

That class of writers who furnish what may be 
called the Apocrypha of history, have delighted in 
wild exaggerations of this event. Drawing their 
material from the crudest sensation accounts of the 
day, they have not hesitated to record as facts the 
most improbable fancies. It is to be regretted that 
these accounts have crept into so many of our popular 
school histories, in one of which", now extensively used, 
we are informed that when IMontcalm went away, he 
left the dead bodies of one hundred women shockingly 
mangled and weltering in their blood. The account 
is based upon a supposed letter of Putnam's^ that was 
never written, and is of the same authority as that 
favorite but now exploded story of the school-boy, 
which relates Putnam's descent into the wolf's den. 

(1) — Lossiug's Field Book, Vol. i. p. 111. 



36 COLONIAL DAYS. 

National enmity has had nnu-li to ilo with these niis- 
representatioMS of Montcalm, who was every way a 
noble and hnmane man, as well as the ablest general 
of his day in all North America. Yet Smollet, in his 
History of England, did not hesitate to lay upon liim 
(in addition to the massacre of Fort A\'illiam Henry) 
the charge of giving up twenty English soldiers at the 
cai)ture of Oswego, the previous year, to be butchered 
by the Indians. The charge, however, was thoroughly 
refuted at the time by an official investigation. The 
real author of the calamity of Fort William Henry, 
was Lord Loudon, who left the country exposed to 
the enemy. 

The French delayed at Fort William Henry until 
August 16. On the previous night the fort was com- 
pletely destroyed by fire, and while the ruins were 
stUl wreathed in smoke, Montcalm embarked and 
sailed down the lake. We conclude the account of 
this sad event in the language of Bancroft, who says : 
" The Canadian peasants returned to gather their 
harvests, and the lake resumed its solitude. Nothing 
told that living men had reposed upon its margin, 
but charred rafters of ruins, and here and there, on 
the hill-side, a crucifix among the junes to mark a 
grave."' 

On the following year another large army assembled 
at tlu' head of the lake for the purpose of reducing 
Ticonderoga, and atoning for the acts of the French 
in the previous year. It was commanded by General 
Abercrombie, who had succeeded Lord Loudon. The 

(1) — liniiciofl's U. S., Vol. iv. p. 206. 



COLONIAL I> A Y S . 37 

ciimpaign was planned with great contideiice. and was 
inaugurated by scouts and skirmishes. On the 23d of 
June three separate detachments of Rogers' Hangers 
were sent out on the lake to reconnoitre ; and 
on Wednesday morning, July "), at eight oVlock, 
the well-appointed army, now sixteen thousand 
strong, embarked in more than one thousand boats 
and batteaux. The day was one of unusual beauty, 
and scarcely a cloud obscured the sky. The fleet 
was arranged in complete military order. The 
Regulars sailed in the centre, the I'rovinci.als on 
the left, and the Light Infantry on the right of 
the advanced guard. The army was composed of 
fine and varied material. There was the sturdy, 
brown-faced farmer from Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut, the determined, phlegmatic Dutchman, the 
hardy Englishman, the dashing Green-Mountain 
Boy, and the intrepid Scot. Lord Howe's regiment 
was one of much note, while its young commander 
was the " Lycurgus " of the whole army, being e\ i- 
dently of much more imjiortance than ^Vbcrcrombie 
himself. 

The troops moved in high spirits, confident of an 
easy victory. But few more splendid scenes have 
ever been witnessed. The lines of boats adorned 
with streamers and fiags, the troops chul in bright 
national colors, the burnished arms, the insignia of 
rank, the placid water, the long banks of oars dipping 
to martial notes, and the bright summer suu shining 
down upon all — formed a display of rare beaut}'. 
Not the least conspicuous part of the jiageant was the 
Highland Regiment, of which old Duncan Campbell, 



3S COLONIAL DAYS. 

of Inversliaw, was Major. They could not have 
appeared to finer advantage even on their own bright 
Locli Katrine. Moving out fi-om under the shadow 
of the French Mountain, they sail on towards the 
verdant isles, as if performing some holiday parade, 
reminding us of Scott's jiicture in the Lady of the 
Lake : 

" Now you might sec the tartans brave. 
And plaids and plumage dance and wave; 
Now see the bonnet sink and rise, 
As his tough oar the rower plies; 
See flashing at each sturdy stroke, 
The wave ascending into smoke; 
See tlic proud pipers on the bow. 
And mark the gaudy streamers flow 
From their loud chanters down, and sweep 
The furrowed bosom of the deep. 
As rushing through the lake amain. 
They plied the ancient Highland strain." 

The fleet continued on its course all day until dusk, 
when they reached Sabbath Day Point. Here they 
remained until eleven o'clock, waiting for three brig- 
ades and the artillery ; and when these came up all 
moved on. At nine o'clock the next morning, the)' 
arrived at the foot of the lake, disembarked, and 
marched towards the French outworks. The route 
lay through dense forests ; and being led by unskilful 
guides, the troops fell into some disorder, though still 
able to move on. Lord Howe led the right centre 
column, and when near Trout Brook, encountered the 
party of De Trepazec, less than three hundred in 
number, returning from a scout at Eogers' Slide. The 
French opened fire, and at the first volley Lord 
Howe was killed by a musket-ball. This threw the 
English into still greater confusion, but thp_v rallied 



C O L O N I A L DAYS. 39 

ami attackeil the Freiifh with such inipetuo.sit_v. that 
nearly the whole body was either killed, wounded, or 
made prisoners. De Trepazec himself was mortally 
wounded. By this engagement the English gained 
nothing, except the forest, in which the principal por- 
tion of the troops passed the night. An officer who 
wrote a letter to a New York paper, speaks of the 
action as higlily discreditable to the English, who 
behaved badly, on the whole, and at one time came 
near being beaten by a mere handful of men. 

The next morning, the 7th instant, Abercrondjie 
withdrew the whole army to the landing-])lace. Col- 
onel Bradstreet then went forward to rebuild tlie 
bridges. In the afternoon the main body of the army 
advanced to attack the French works. The assault 
was made with much spirit. Three times the English 
were repulsed, and as often returned to the charge ; 
but " at the end of four hours, after a series of efforts 
that would liave done honor to the soldiers of Cffisar, 
and an exhibition of valor that would have rivalled 
the most romantic days of chivalry," the army, about 
seven o'clock, was ordered to retire, though not before 
the English had fired by mistake upon one of their 
own corps. The night was spent at the landing, and 
Saturday morning the army embarked and rowed 
sadly up the lake, arriving at Fort George on Sunday 
evening, the 9th. No corps suffered more than the 
Highlanders, who, until now, with one exception, — 
the Battle of Fontenoy, in 1745, — had always been 
completely successful. Three times they mounted 
the French works, but not being supjiorted tliey wei'e 
forced to retire. Grav-haired Uuncaii C'ami)bell fell 



40 COLONIAL DAYS. 

at tlie lieafl of liis regiment, with John Campbell the 
commander, who was succeeded by Colonel Gordon 
Graham. During the battle, Abercrombie remained 
at a safe distance, and not a single piece of artillery 
was used by the English, who, under a general of 
respectable spirit and capacity, would have easily cap- 
tured Ticouderoga. During the day Abercrombie 
ordered a movement against the enemy's left wing ; 
but after several boats had been sunk by the artillery 
of the French the attempt was given up. This is a 
jjoint that the most careful writers have failed to 
notice.^ 

The inglorious campaign was not terminated, how- 
ever, before Colonel Bradstreet marched from the 
lake with twenty-seven hunilred men and destroyed 
the French forts at Frontenac. When this had been 
accomplished, Bradstreet returned to the lake, and the 
bulk of Abercrombie's army went into winter quarters 
at Albany, New York, and elsewhere. 

The next year Abercrombie was removed, and Lord 
Amherst was appointed in his place. This able gen- 
eral accomplished the reduction of Ticonderoga with 
but little loss of life. Before the campaign opened, 
Rogers was active on the lake with his Rangers. 
March 3, he left the head of the lake with three hun- 
(h-ed and fifty-eight men, and proceeded on the ice to 
the Narrows, and afterwards went on to Ticonderoga. 
Tliere he suffered a severe defeat from the French 
and Indians, and returned by the way of Sabbath Day 
Point to Long Island, about five miles from Fort 

(1) — N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. X. p. 846. 



C O L O N' I A L D A V S . 4 I 

William Ilciiiy. At this place he encamped (ni the 
night of the 8th. Tlie next day he went to Fort 
Edward, carrying the wounded on sleds. 

June 21, General Amherst, accompanied by Gen- 
eral Gage, moved to Lake George with a portion of 
the forces, composed of the Royal Highlanders and 
Provincials, who at once busied themselves in strength- 
ening the camp. 

On the 27th, some English othcers fishing at 
Diamond Island were surprised by the French scouts 
and nearly captured. July 1, troops to the number 
of fifteen hundi-ed, under Colonel Montressor, were 
busy buildhig a stone fort,' afterwards called Fort 
George, having in the meantime erected a temporary 
stockade. July 2, the enemy was extremely bold, 
notwithstanding the preparations of Amherst. On 
that day sixteen of the Jersey Blues had gone out 
from the fort to get brushwood for the ovens, and 
were attacked by two hundi-ed and forty French, who 
killed and scalped six, wounded two, took four pris- 
oners, and only four escaped. Tlie French raised a 
loud halloo, and displayed the scalps in plain sight of 
the fort, and then ran to their canoes, which were only 
two miles from the head of the lake." 

July 3, the most of the articles buried by Aber- 
crombie, at the close of the previous season, still 
remained undiscovered, though the French had found 
and raised a battery of eight pieces sunk in the lake. 
July 5, the "Halifax Sloop,'"* mounting fourteen guns, 



(1) — Knox Jour., Vol. i. p. 378. (2) — N. Y. Mercury, July 9, 1759. 
(3) — "On the 11th. instant was launched here, in 13 Days from 
laying the Keej, the Sloop Earl of Halilax, 51 Feet Keel, about 100 



42 CO L O N I A I. D A Y * . 

wliieli Iiad been sunk to ])revent capture, was success- 
fully raioeil. July 12, Major Campbell antl four hun- 
dred men embarked in batteaux and " proceeded to 
the islands on the lake to drive the enemy from 
thence," taking a floating battery of one twelve-pound 
gun. The French were driven away, and their "works 
and huts " destroyed and burned. The name of the 
islands in question is not given. The French lost one 
canoe and all the men in it. 

The preparations for the expedition having been 
made with great care, the army, composed of more 
than eleven thousand men, embarked in whaleboats 
and batteaux, on the morning of the 21st of July, 
and moved down the lake in four columns, the sloop 
Flalifax sailing in the rear. The soldiers rowed by 
turns. An incredible amount of labor was spent in 
embarking, and some of the boats proved useless. 
One, with a hundred barrels of powder, sunk before 
leaving the shore ; likewise a raft with two ten-inch 
mortars. 

At ten o'clock the army reached the Narrows, and 
after pausing a short time moved on with a fresh 
breeze and a hazy sky. At night the expedition 
moored,' the weather being rough with " a disagreeable 
tumbling sea." The next day was Sunday, July 23, 
but at daylight the fleet proceeded, and in a few hours 
reached the foot of the lake. The army landed with- 



Tons Burt lien, built by the direction of Commodore Loriiig and Col. 
UiiKley. Her risking being fitted, expected she will sail on a cruise 
on the Lake, in a day or two." Letter from Lake tieorge, Aug. 21, 
1758. (1)— I'rcjhably below .Sabbath Day I'oint. 



N I A L 1) A V 8 . 



43 



out delay, and marclied for Fort Tiooiidcroga. They 
reached the enemy's intrenchments after some light 
skirmishing, and the troops lay upon their arms all 
night. In the morning, seeing Gener.al Amherst 
drawing up his artillery, and finding that he had also 
launched batteaux iu the lake, the French abandoned 
their intrenchments, of which the English took pos- 
session, in the face of a brisk fire, and began prepara- 
tions for a siege ; but at ten o'clock on the night of 
the 2Gth, some deserters from the French came in, 
announcing that the enemy had evacuated the fort and 
were retreating. Very soon after the magazine blew 
up and set the wood-work on fire. The flames rapidly 
communicated with the loaded guns and shell, and for 
a time created a continuous fire. The next morning 
a sergeant went into the fort, at the risk of his life, 
and hauled down the French flag. Thus the fort was 
taken with a loss of only thirty or forty in killed 
and wounded. This might have been done the year 
before. 

But Lord Amherst, though a brave and faithful 
officer, fiiiled to take advantage of his success. Instead 
of moving at once against the French, and to the aid 
of Wolfe, he delayed to rebuild the works at Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point, and prepare batteaux, until 
more than two months had slipped away, when the 
season was too far advanced to begin operations. The 
French army was not more than one fourth as large 
as his own, and Montcalm never seriously intended to 
hold Ticonderoga, where it was impossible for him to 
receive reinforcements, and yet they were allowed to 
escape down Chamidain. Nevertheless, his victory 



44 COLONIAL DAYS. 

brought comparative peace to the shores of Lake 
George, and ultimately removed the contest towards 
the Caiiadas, so that on September 21, Lieutenant- 
Governor DeLancey issued a proclamation calling 
upon the settlers to return once more to their homes, 
where they lived in quiet until the war of the Revo- 
lution. 

In the meanwhile, many of those who had served in 
the wars applied to the Colony of New York for grants 
of land around the lake. Among them was Eogers 
the Ranger, who, with twenty-five others, applied 
for twenty-five thousand acres of land on the west 
side of Lake George, extending from Fort William 
Henry to Tongue Mountain. It may also be noted, 
that here, in 177G, Rogers, bemg then a Tory, re- 
newed the application to the British authorities, coolly 
proposing " Rogers' Mount," as the name of the 
grant. 

April 20, 1773, Mr. Samuel Deall, a merchant of 
New York, who was much interested in building mills 
and improving the lands around Ticouderoga, peti- 
tioned for the exclusive right to establish a ferry across 
Lake George, though the right was not granted. He 
was associated in the improvements here with one 
Lieutenant Stoughton, who was drowned on tlie lake 
near the close of the year 1767, when his boat went 
to the bottom with all its valuable freight. 

About this time the settlers had become quite 
luimerous. As early as 17G8,Mr. Deall had a small 
vessel on the lake called the " Petty Anger,"' which 

(1) — This is probably a mistake of llic iirinter. It sbould read 



COLONIAL DAYS. 45 

was designed to traverse the lake, " if any freight 
offers worth going (i\er."' It \\as in charge of 
one John Jones, who lived near Fort 'William 
Henr^y. 

The Indians came here in the snmmer season iu 
considerable numbers, feeling that they had a tolerable 
right to the soil. They were not always peaceably 
tolerated, as appears from the following account of 
Levi Beardsley, who says his grandfather, before the 
Revolution, made annual excursions to the great for- 
ests bordering on Lake George, the favorite hunting- 
ground of the Iroquois. He tells that on one occa- 
sion, " coming near a swampy piece of ground, his 
companion remarked that game was plenty in that 
neighborhood, and asked him to walk with him to the 
edge of the swamp, where some one had shot a large 
buck a few days before. They re])aired to the spot, 
where his companion pulled away a few pieces of 
rotten wood, that had been thrown on a large Indian, 
who lay there partly stamped iu the mud. I have no 
suspicion," he says, " that my grandfather ever shot, 
or encouraged the shooting of Indians, but it is very 
certain, that he occasionally associated with those who 
indulged in this interesting business. Those times 
were perilous," he continues, " and conflicts fiequent 
between the white and red man. . . . They were inev- 



" Petti-auffa,"^a small vessel or sliip. The following extract from 
Dunlap'8 New York, (Vol. ii,, Appen., p. 177,) fjives a correct idea 
of this class of vessels, in one of wliich Mr. Vandcrbilt bcf;an liis 
career as a Staten-Island ferryman : " A pcrri augur or petty auga, a 
boat without keel, with two masts and two large fails, the lack of keel 
supplied by lee-boards — all these manage<I by one man, who was 
likewise helmsman, aud very frequeutly drunk." 



46 C O L O N I A L D A Y S . 

it:ible, and of no uncommon occurrenfe ; for it was a 
question wlietlier the red man alone should enjoy the 
game of the country.'" 

The handful of military stationed at Ticonderoga, 
were now chiefly useful in preserving the peace 
among the lawless inhabitants of the New-Hamp- 
shire Grants, which extended as for south as the head 
of tlie lake. Prominent among the New-Hampshire 
men, who, at times, invaded the territory of New 
York, was Colonel Ethan Allen, who often played the 
part of a swaggering brigand. The fortifications were 
now, also, in a bad condition. In 17G8, Fort George 
was practically abandoned. In April, 1773, the fort 
at Crown Point caught fire, and the magazine, contain- 
ing one hundred barrels of powder, blew up, completely 
destroying the works. The minutes of the Council at 
the close of the following September, say that Ticon- 
deroga was in so ruinous a condition, that there was 
no accommodation for more than about fifty men. In 
1774, Governor Tryon reported that " only a few men 
were kept at the south end of Lake George to facili- 
tate the transportation of supplies to Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point ;" from which it appears that the 
British authorities were but poorly prepared for the 
events about to take place. 

(1) — Beardslcy's Remiuiscencei*, p. 16. (2) — Doc. Ilist., N. Y., i. 





HEVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 

TART II. 

|IIE War of the Revolution liroke out iu 
1 77.J, and was signalized at Lake George 
liy an earthquake, which did no harm. 
But the lake at once became the theatre 
uf exciting events, as it still formed a part of the 
central route between Albany and Montreal. The 
English felt the importance of keeping possession of 
tliis route, and one of their journals of that date says, 
that, in event of its being held by the Americans, the 
British troops would be brought around to New York 
by water, as another campaign could not be thrown 
away in " frog-battles " on the lakes. Yet Burgoyne 
ultimately thought differently. 

The Americans, however, were on the alert, and the 
New-Englanders resolved on the seizure of Ticon- 
deroga, which was the key of the whole position. 
This was accomplished by Benedict Arnold and Ethan 
Allen, on the morning of May 10, without the loss of 
a man. And sei'ious efforts were recently made to 
show that a similar exjiloit was performed at Fort 
George, two days afterward. One account, which not 
long since appeared, stated that on the reception of 
the news of the Battle of Lexington, one Daniel Parks, 
of Queensbury, rai.-ed a band of xolunteers and after- 



40 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 

wards marchefl to Fort George, wliioli, together with 
" Fort Gage," was garrisoned by two companies of 
artillery. On his arrival at the fort his demonstra- 
tions were so impressive as to cause the garrison to 
flee down the lake to Diamond Island, where they 
intrenched. The commander, it appears, was left 
behind, and, on surrendering his sword, is repre- 
sented as telling Parks that his neck would " stretch " 
for " this thing." According to the representations 
given, this alleged action of Daniel Parks was quite 
as meritorious as the capture of Ticonderoga. But 
tliough it may seem a pity to spoil a story, we never- 
theless have abundant means for proving the account 
a fabrication. 

It has already been shown that the fort was aban- 
doned eight years before this time, while Governor 
Ti-yon reported that the year previous only a few men 
lived there to forward supplies ; while " Fort Gage," 
the little earthwork on a neighboring eminence, which 
was probably erected in 17;')',) liy General Amherst, 
never possessed a garrison or a gun. The position at 
the head of the lake had at this period lost its former 
importance, and therefore it is not reasonable to sup- 
pose, that while no effort was made to strengthen 
more commanding posts. Fort George had been rein- 
forced bv two companies of artillery. Indeed, this 
was a force superior to all the other garrisons com- 
bined. Besides, the intercepted despatches of General 
Carlton to General Gage, show that the total mmiber 
of British troops in Canada at this time numbered 
only seven hundred and twenty-five, including the 
garriscnis at Ticonderoifa, Skene^boroU''h, and Crow u 



R E V O L U T I O N A K V SCENES. 49 

Point. The condition of atiairs at the hike, prior to 
1775, would constitute a sufficient denial of the story 
of Parks. 

And the documentary evidence of the year 1775, 
goes to show that everything remained unchanged, 
except that fewer persons lived near the fort. May 
12, there were only two persons at the fort, who were 
engaged in the express business. The fort had no 
commander, but the lake had a nominal " Governor " ; 
and the apprehension and dismissal of this person has 
furnished the only ground for the romance of Daniel 
Parks. The person thus treated was Mr. John Nord- 
berg,^ formerly an officer in the English army. In 
1774, as a reward for his military services, he was 



(1) — Mr. Nordborg was a native of Sweden, where ho was toorn in 
1710. Favoring the French faction there, he was persecuted, and left 
Sweden. He entered the British service in January, 1758, as one of 
the foreign officers of the Royal Americans. He served in the French 
war, receiving two wounds. He afterwards went with his battalion 
to the West Indies. In 1773 he went to England, being invalidated, 
but returned to America the next year as Governor of Lake George. 
May the 12th, (not April, as Governor Tryou says, in Col. Doc, Vol. 
viii. p. 597,) he was apprehended at his cottage and sent away. De- 
cember 15, the rrovincial Congress gave him liberty to remove to 
England; but it appears that he remained in New York, where ho 
died October 9, 1782. See Jour. Prov. Congress of N. Y., Vol.i. p. 220. 
We also find the following in Henry's travels at Lake Superior, 1771, p. 
231: " Mr. Norburg, a Russian gentleman, acquainted with metals, and 
holding a commission in the sixtieth regiment, and then in garrison 
at Micbilimackinac, accompanied us on this latter expedition. As we 
rambled, examining the thocls, or loose stones, in search of minerals, 
Mr. Norburg chanced to meet with one, of eight pounds weight, of a 
blue color, and semi-transparent. This he carried to England, where 
it produced in the proportion of sixty pounds of silver to a hundred 
weigUt of ore. It was reposited in the British Museum. The same 
Mr. Norburg was shortly afterward appointed to the government of 
Lake George." 



50 K E V O L U T I O N A U y SCENES. 

appointed " Governor" of Lake George, an offiee 
without duties. The terms of his appointment left 
him at liberty to reside anywhere in America. At the 
period referred to, he was living, not in Fort George, 
but in a cottage near by, where, being an old man, and 
an invalid, he passed his time after the manner of a 
hermit, gladly esca])ing from the political discussions 
of the day. And the records show that ]\Ir. Nordberg 
was actually visited by a party who went through the 
form of an arrest, but afterwards gave him a passport 
to New Lebanon. The person who took this respon- 
sibility was Captain Bernard Romans, a member of 
the Connecticut Committee appointed to take posses- 
sion of " Ticonderoga and its dependencies."' 

Several writers, in giving an account of the action 
of the Connecticut Committee, state that Romans left 
his associates at Bennington, and did not appear until 
he came to Ticonderoga, May 14. Mott says in his 
journal : " Mr. Romans left us and joined us no more ; 
we were all glad, as he had been a trouble to us, all 
the time he was with us."- 

It appears that Romans, finding it impossible to 
manage the other members of the C'ommittee, with 
reference to the surprise of Ticonderoga, decided to 
seize Fort George on his own account. This was 
certainly included in the instructions of the Committee, 
and it was the only thing left him to do, as the sur- 
prise of Skeuesborough was already provided for. 
Therefore, without consulting any one, he went to 



(l) — Soe Appendix. I. (2) — CoDn. Hist. Col.. Vol. i. p. 



REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 5I 

the head of the lake, took possession of what tune 
and the weather had left of Fort George, and sent 
away Mr. Nordberg to New Lebanon. 

Romans felt that the capture of an abandoned fort 
was not a thing to boast of, and therefore gave no pub- 
licity to his action. It has never even been mentioned 
in connection with the capture of Ticonderoga. 

Daniel Parks may have followed in the train of 
Captain Romans, and may also have been a member 
of the garrison, when it was soon after found necessary 
to maintain a small force at this point ; but that he 
raised troops for the capture of what he knew to be a 
ruinous and deserted work, is not to be supposed for a 
moment. Mott says in his Journal, that they sent 
men " to waylay the roads " leading to " Fort Edward 
and Lake George," ' for the express purpose of pre- 
venting alarm in what was, on the whole, a Tory 
neighborhood. Indeed, it has not been proved that 
Parks was on the ground at the time in any capacity. 
Still, there is a monument in the burying-ground at 
Sandy Hill which states that he was the man to whom 
the British officer surrendered Fort George. But, as 
shown from the above account, the fort had neither 
garrison nor commander. The story is a myth. 

From a document' never before published, we learn 
the outside cost of the work of Captain Romans, 
which probably was less than thirty shillings. The 
document is also of value, in showing what disposition 
was made of the British prisoners taken at Ticon- 
deroga. 

(1) — Conn. Hist. Coll., Vol. i. p. 169. (2) — See Appendix. II. 



52 K p; V O L U T I O H A 11 Y SCENES. 

Soon after Mr. Nordberg's dismissal, the colonial 
authorities found it necessary to establish a small garri- 
son at Lake George, chiefly for the purpose of forward- 
ing supplies to the troops operating on Lake Champlain. 

May 25, it was voted by the Continental Congress 
to leave the authorities of New York to decide what 
troops should be stationed at Lake George. May 30, 
New York not having raised any troops, Goveruor 
Trumbull, of Connecticut, ordered one thousand men, 
under Colonel Hinman, to Ticonderoga, where four 
hundred of them arrived about the middle of June. 
July 1, there were upwards of one hundred men sta- 
tioned at each end of the lake. 

Major General Philip Schuyler, of New York, hav- 
ing been appointed to the command of the Northern 
department, went down Lake George, July 17, 
arriving at Ticonderoga the next morning, when he 
formally superseded Colonel Hinman, who had pre- 
viously displaced Benedict Arnold from the command. 
We may judge of the degree of discijiline which was 
maintained at this time by the following extract from 
his letter to Washington. He writes: 

''About ten, last night, I arrived at the landing- 
place, at the north end of Lake George, a post occu- 
pied by a captain and one hundred men. A sentinel 
on being informed I was in the boat, (juitted his post 
to go and awaken the guard, consisting of three men, 
in which he had no success. I walked up and came 
to another, a sergeant's guard. Here the sentinel 
challenged, but suffered me to come up to him, the 
whole guard, like the first, in the soundest sleej)."' 

(1) — Letters to VVasliiugtou, Vol. i. p. 6. 



K E V O L f T I O N A R V S C EXES. 53 

July 24, there were two Imndred and thii-ty-tliree 
men p{ Colonel Goose Van Schaick's regiment, at or 
near Fort George. About this time the soldiers at 
Fort George were in a mutinous condition, and 
suffered greatly for the «ant of blankets, so that 
several of their officers, when visiting at Albany, pro- 
fessed that they did not dare to return without them. 

The operations of the Americans this year weie 
conducted by Schuyler and Montgomery. The army 
was supplied with food and war material by the trans- 
ports on Lake George. Early in the campaign 
Schuyler was forced by sickness to leave the field, 
and Montgomery captured Fort St. John and Mon- 
treal. In the attack upon Qviebec he failed, after a 
siege of three weeks, which ended in an assault that 
cost his own life, and the surrender of a portion of 
the troops who penetrated into the lov>'er town. The 
remaining portion of the invading army wintered at 
Sillery. On' the first of April, 177G, Wooster, who 
had succeeded to the command, made another attempt 
upon Quebec, but failed. Soon after the English re- 
ceived reinforcements, and the Americans were obliged 
to retire. 

A more efficient commander being needed in Can- 
ada, General Thomas was appointed, and his army 
was made independent of the department under Schuy- 
ler. He at once moved toward the scene of action, 
hoping to stay the tide of defeat. April 17, he passed 
down the lake, and the next day forty batteaux started, 
carrying five hundred troops. On the 19th, a person 
at the lake, writing, says : " The whole of the troops 
that are now on the lake and here, will amount to 



54 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 

upwards of fifteen huiidi-ed men ; so that I tliink we 
shall make a very respectable figure before Quebec 
when we all arrive." They never arrived ; and Gen- 
eral Thomas died of the small-pox. 

At this time Benjamin Franklin, Siunnel Chase, 
and Charles Carroll reached the lake. They had been 
appointed by Congress, as Commissioners, to proceed 
to Canada and negotiate with the authorities there. 
They were accompanied in this mission by the Rev. 
John Carroll, afterwards the Roman Catholic Bishop 
of Baltimore. The account of this trip across Lake 
George is given by Charles Carroll in his journal.' 
Portions of the journal are of sufficient interest to be 
reproduced here : 

"April 19, 177G. We embarked about one o'clock, 
in company with General Schuyler, and landed in 
Montcalm's Bay, about four miles from Lake George. 
After drinking tea we again embarked, and went 
about three or four miles further ; then landed (the 
sun being set) and kindled fires. The longest of the 
boats, made for transportation of troops over Lakes 
George and Champlain, are thirty-six feet in length 
and eight feet wide ; they draw about a foot of water 
when loaded, and carry between thirty and forty men, 
and are rowed by the soldiers. They have a mast 
fixed in them, to which a square sail or blanket is 
fastened, but these sails are of no use, unless with tire 
wind abaft, or nearly so. After we left Montcalm's 
Bay, we were delayed considerably in getting tluough 
the ice ; but, with the help of tent-poles, we opened 

(1) — Baltimore, 1860. Published by the Jlaryland Uist. Society. 



R E V O L U T I O N A K Y S <' K. N K S . 55 

ourselves a passage through it into free water. The 
boats fitted up to carry us across, had awnings over 
tliem, under wliich we made up our beds, and my fel- 
low-travellers slept very comfortably. We left the 
place, where we passed the night, very early on the 
20th. 

" 20th. We had gone some miles before I arose ; 
soon after I got out of bed, we found ourselves entan- 
gled in the ice. We attempted, but in vain, to break 
through it in one place, but were obliged to desist and 
force our passage through another, which we effected 
with much difficulty. At eight o'clock we lauded to 
breakfast. After breakfiist, the general looked to 
his small boat ; being desirous to reach the lauding at 
the north end of Lake George, we set off together ; 
but the general's boat, and the other boat with part of 
the luggage, soon got before us a considerable way. 
After separating, we fell luckily in with the boat 
bringing the Montreal and Canada mail. Dr. Frank- 
lin found in the mail a letter for General Schuyler. 
When we had weathered Sabaty point, we stood over 
for the western shore of the lake, and a mile or two 
below the point we were overtaken by the general, 
from whom we learned the cause of his delay. Mr. 
Chase and myself went on board the general's boat, 
and reached the landing-place at the south [north] 
end of Lake George, nearly two hours before the 
other boats. Lake George lies nearly north and 
south. ... Its shores are remarkably steep, high, and 
rocky, (particularly the east shore), and are covered 
with pine and cedar, or what is here termed hemlock ; 
the country is wild and appears utterly mcapable of 



56 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 

cultivation ; it is a fine deer country, and likely to 
remain so, for I think it never will be inhabited. I 
speak of the shores, and am told that the country 
inland resembles these. 

" The season was not sufficiently advanced to admit 
of catcliing fish, a circumstance that we had reason to 
regret, as they are so higlily prized by connoisseurs 
in good eating, and as one of our company is so 
excellent a judge of this science.'" 

The Commissioners accomplished no good by their 
visit to Montreal, and the party returned by Scnith 
Bay and Fort Edward. 

May 31, General Schuyler was now at the lake, 
having his headquarters at Fort George. About 
this time he was visited by Mr. Graydon, who came 
to the lake to bring money for the troops. Speaking 
of the journey between Fort Edward and the lake, 
he says : " It was almost an entire wood, acquiring a 
deeper gloom, as well from the general prevalence of 
pines, as from its dark, extended covert, being pre- 
sented to the imagination as an apjjropriate scene for 
the ' treasons, stratagems and spoils ' of savage hos- 
tility."- 

He was received at the lake by Schuyler with great 
cordiality and respect, and a]ipears to have heartily 
approved his tacti(.'s in dealing witli the New-England 



(1) — Mr. Carroll writes under date of April 5, when the Commie- 
missioners were afceuUinj; the Hudson: "Just before we doubled 
Cape Anthony's Nose, Mr. Chase and I landed to examine a beautiful 
fall of water. 3Ir. Chase, apprehensive of the leg of mutton being 
boiled too much, was impatient to get on board." (2) — Memoirs, p. 
142. 



K E V O L U T I O N A R Y SCENES. 57 

troops uiuler bis command. Gra3-clon bears testimonj' 
to bis irritability, but tliinks tbat tbe New-EiigLand 
men deserved the contemptuous treatment which they 
received at his hands, a very striking instance of wbicii 
is recorded. Eventually, however, his policy failed. 
As Greene observes : " New-England men could not 
persuade themselves that the man who, in bis official 
intercourse with them, could not command his ' peev- 
ishness ' was qualified to command tbem."^ Tliis 
remark is conceived in the spirit of that ancient decla- 
ration, which teaches tbat the ability to rule one's 
spirit is a truer mark of greatness than the capacity 
to take a city ; yet, if mutual forbearance bad been 
exercised, Schuyler might, perhaps, have continued in 
command of this department to the end, and finally 
achieved the victory tbat afterwards crowned the 
efforts of Gates. 

A polished gentleman of the old school. General 
Philip Schuyler carried all his high-bred courtliness 
into the camp, where he found it difficult to recognize 
the worth of those New-England men, who, at times, 
like many of their fellow patriots of New York, pos- 
sessed noble and disinterested natures, veiled under a 
rude garb and ordinary mien. Hence, the mutual 
dislike and open hostility which afterwards had so 
much to do in removing this able soldier and wise 
statesman from the command of tbe Department of the 
North. 

But let us not anticipate events. July 17, General 
Gates, who, a month previous, had succeeded Thomas 

(1)— Life of General Grecuo, Vol. i. p. 43G. Giaydon. p. 143. 



$8 K E V O I- T: T I O N A K T SCENES. 

iu command of the army, which had now been driven 
fer out of Canada, issued an order from his head-quar- 
ters at Ticonderoga, forbidding " the wanton waste of 
powder " at Fort George. Powder was at this time 
scarce, and a rebuke was perhaps needed, yet Gates, 
having entered the department of his superior, had no 
authority to administer it. Nine days before, the ques- 
tion of jurisdiction liad come up iu Congress, and the 
decision was against Gates, who was ordered to act in 
liarmony with Schuyler, and restrict the use of his 
authority to his own immediate command. 

October 1, Schuyler wrote to General Gates, saying 
that a blow at Fort George was probably meditated 
by the lingiish, to destroy the communications of the 
American forces, and recommended a reinforcement. 
No harm came, however; yet in the following No- 
vember the New York Committee of Safety wrote 
that the Tories had a plan to seize and hold Fort 
George, iu connection with the Indians and Cana- 
dians. Tliis, likewise, was simply an ungrounded 
fear, as on the ninth of the same month General 
Gates writes somewhat tartly to Colonel Gansevort, 
because he kept the boats and provisions at Fort 
George, and sent forward no flour, telling him that 
" there is not an enemy within a hundred miles of the 
post." 

Several w'riters have stated that about this time 
a severe battle was fought by a party of Amer- 
ican militia of Saratoga county,' who met a band of 
Tories and Indians near Sabbath Day Point, when 



(1) — LossiLR'e Field Book, Vol. i. p. 110. 



REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 59 

tlie former achieved a victory. Yet this story does 
not appear ia print until a very recent date. The 
following paragraph from Mr. Neilson's little book 
on Burgoyne's campaign, contains the only authority 
found thus far. He says, speaking of events at this 
time, " My [step] grandfather, at the head of fifty 
men, had a desperate encounter with about eighty 
Indians and Tories at Sabbath Day Point, in which 
the enemy were defeated, with a loss of forty killed 
and wounded."' 

Unfortunately, however, the chronicles of the day, 
which gave minute accounts of every skirmish, say 
nothing whatever either about such an engagement or 
victory. The only traces found by the author, of a 
conflict at this place appear in a fragment of a manu- 
script letter now in the State archives at Albany. It 
was written by " J. Deane, Indian Interpreter " to 
General Schuyler, and bears date of June 25, 1777. 
In the course of his remarks he speaks of " the war- 
riors of Aghmejasne, who took a party of our people 
at Sabbath Day Point."^ In the absence of reliable 
testimony, we shall therefore feel obliged to receive 
with extreme caution Nelson's account of a victory 
at the above place. Lossing repeats Nelson's story, 
but gives no authority. So important an engagement 
would certainly have been mentioned in some docu- 
ment or newspaper of the day.' 



(Ij — Burgoyne's Campaign, p. 85. (2)— Miss. Papers, 1777, Vol. 
ii. p. 20. (3) — The autlior has not been able to learn even the 
of tlic person who commanded in tliis alleged light. 



6o R E V O I, r T I O N A R Y SCENES. 

It would be improper to pass over this year with- 
out speaking of the severe sickness wliich prevailed. 
When the army under Gates was obliged to retreat 
up Champlain to Ticonderoga, the sick were trans- 
ported over Lake George to the hospitals established 
around the fort at its head. This site was selected on 
account of its genial atmosphere and general advan- 
tages. On the 14th of July there were no less than 
three thousand sick men lying at this place.' many 
of whom were suffering from small-pox and typhus 
fever. Between the 12th and 2(5th of July, Hfty-one 
men were here consigned to the grave. AVhat is now 
the village of Caldwell was one great eharnel house. 
The circumstances were rendered worse by the fact, 
that the hospitals were extremely destitute of all those 
means and appliances which in our own daj- go so fjir 
to alleviate human misery. The sufferings of the 
troops at Valley Forge could not be compared with 
the misery of our patriotic troops on the shore of this 
beautiful lake. 

Among those prostrated by disease and borne to 
this place, was General James Wilkinson, afterwards 
the co-laborer of Aaron Burr, and Baron de Woedtke." 
Wilkinson says : " There at Fort George, in spite of 
medical aid, I was reduced to the last extremity ; every 
hope of my recovery had expired ; I was consigned to 



(1) — American Arcliivcs, Vol. i., .Series v. pp. 232-237-651. (2) — 
Barou Ue Woedtlio was many years an orticer in the Prussian 
army. He came to America, and March 16, 1776, was appointed 
brigadier-general, and ordered to Canada. He died at Lalic George, 
at about the close of .July, and was buried with the liouors due to liis 
rank, VV asUin^'tou's Writings, Vol. iv. p. 6. 



R E V O L l" T I O N A R Y SCENES. 6l 

the grave, and a coffin was prepared for my accommo- 
dation."' Yet he I'ecovered from this sickness, and in 
course of time the diseases abated, and the liospitals 
were cleared, tliough too many of them had been 
rendered tenantless by Deatli. 

Towards the close of the season, Trumbull passed 
up the lake from Ticonderoga, in a boat with General 
Gates, under whom he was serving as adjutant-gen- 
eral. He gives in his journal a beautiful picture of a 
mountain on fire, a scene well adapted to impress the 
mind of the embryo artist, who was about to lay aside 
the sword for the mahl stick. He writes : " My taste 
for the picturesque here received a splendid gratifica- 
tion. Some of the troops who had passed before us 
had landed on the west shore of the lake and lighted 
fires for cooking. The season was cold and dry — 
the leaves had fallen in masses — the fire had extended 
to them, and spread from ledge to ledge, from rock to 
rock to the very summit, where it was from seven 
hundred to a thousand feet high. In parts the fire 
crept along the crevices of the rock ; at times an 
ancient pine tree rose up a majestic pyramid of flame ; 
and all this was reflected in the pellucid surfitce of the 
lake, which lay like a beautiful mirror in the stillness 
of the dark night, unruftled by the oars of our solitary 
boat, and these were frequently suspended that we 
might enjoy the magnificent scene."- 

Winter closed in gloomily upon the country, as well 
as upon the lake. About New- Year's day, the lake 
was frozen over, and navigation ceased. The cold 

(1) — Memoirs, Vol. i. p. Sii. (2) — Trumbull's Keminiscences, p. 37. 



62 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 

season passed away without any event of importance 
occurring in the various garrisons. But when the 
of 1777 opened, the whole aspect of affairs underwent 
a change. 

In order to render the operations of the army 
more effective, Congress, May 22, confirmed General 
Schuyler in his command, and added to his former 
jurisdiction, including Ticonderoga, Fort Stanwix, 
Albany, and their dependencies.' Thus Gates was 
put out of the field. General St. Clair was then 
placed in command at Ticonderoga. Eventually, that 
officer, acting on his own respoiisibility, decided, in 
view of the impending peril, to evacuate the post. 
For this act Schuyler was severely blamed, yet he 
was in no wise responsible ; while St. Clair himself 
was afterwards fully acquitted by a military court. 
The day after the evacuation of Ticonderoga, Schuyler, 
writing to Washington from Fort P^dward, says, " I 
have not been able to learn what is become of Gen- 
eral St. Clair and the army."^ 

St. Clair executed this movement on the night of 
July 6, sending one regiment and the sick to AVhite- 
hall, while the rest of the troops marched by the new 
road through the woods to Ilubbardstown. The Brit- 
ish, under General Frazer, took possession, and thus 
the evacuation of all jjoints on Lake George became 
necessary. St. Clair's retreat having become known, 
preparations were made in season to leave Fort 
George ; and when the Americans deserted that work 



(1)- Journal Congress, Vol. iii. p. 183. (2)— Washington's Writ- 
ings, Vol. iv. p. 491. 



REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 63 

they took all their baggage and stoi-es, and set the 
fort on lire. The match was applied July 16, and 
Major Yates marched away to Fort Edward, with 
seven hundi-ed men. Burgoyne, who was then mov- 
ing victoriously southward, thus writes of the affair : 
" The garrison of Fort George in manifest danger 
of being cut off by the direct movement from Skenes- 
borough to Hudson's River, took the measure I ex- 
pected of abandoning the Fort, and burning the vessels, 
thereby leaving the lake entirely free. A detachment 
of the King's Troops from Ticonderoga, which I had 
ordered to be ready for that event, with a great embark- 
ation of provisions, passed the lake on the same day 
that I took possession of this communication by land." 
Schuyler, in his letter to Washington, before referred 
to, says that there were •' no carriages to remove the 
stores from Fort George," which he expected would 
be immediately attacked. Yet it appears that Colonel 
Gates found means seven days after to bring away 
every thing in safety. Schuyler also justified the 
giving up of Fort George, on which point Wash- 
ington susj>ended his opinion, merely remarking that 
others had informed him " that a s])irited, brave, 
judicious officer, with two or three hundred good 
men, together with the armed vessels you have built, 
would retard Burgoyne's passage across the Lake for a 
considerable time, if not render it impracticable, and 
oblige him to take a more difficult and circuitous 
route." To this Schuyler replies: "The fort was part 
of an unfinished bastion of an intended fortification. 
The bastion was closed at the gorge. In it was a 
barrack capable of containing betvifeen thirty and fifty 



64 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 

men ; without (litcb, without wall, without cistern ; 
without any picket to prevent an enemy from running 
over the wall. So small, as not to contain above one 
hundred and fifty men, commanded by ground greatly 
overlooking it, and within point blank shot ; and so 
situated that five hundred men may lie between the 
bastion and the Lake, without being seen from this 
extremely defensible fortress. Of vessels built there, 
one was afloat and tolerably fitted ; the others still 
upon the stocks ; but, if the two had been upon the 
water, they would have been of but little use, without 
rigging and guns."' 

The same poor condition jirevailed at Fort Edwai'd, 
where Schuyler had only fifteen hundred men, with 
only two pieces of small u-on cannon, all the artillery 
having been sent to the southern department by order 
of Washington. We may easily imagine what must 
have been the real state of affairs. An extract from 
a letter written by Governeur Morris to John Jay, 
when at Valley Forge, January, 1780, says: "Our 
troops, — heu niiserors. The skeleton of an army 
presents itself to our ej'es in a naked, starving con- 
dition, out of health, out of spirits. But I have seen 
Fort George," he adds, " in the summer of 1777."' 

Lake George being wholly given up by the Amer- 
icans, it now became a part of the British line of 
communication with Canada. Colonel Anstruther was 
the commandant. 

It is almost universally conceded, however, tliat lie 
erred greatly in failing to bring his army by this 



(1)— Washington's Writings, Vul. iv. p. -IW, (2) — Life of Uover- 
neur Morris, Vol. i. p. 154. 



l; H \- O L V T I <) N A H V S () K N K s . 65 

route after the surrender of Ticouderoga. If he had 
done this, instead of moving by the way of South 
Bay, the result would doubtless have been far differ- 
ent. The general plan of the campaign was esteemed 
judicious, and it gained the ajiproval of King George 
himself. But that monarch saw the dangers of South 
Bay, and earnestly recommended the route by Lake 
George. In revising the plan he says : " If possible, 
possession must be taken of Lake George, and nothing 
but an absolute impossibility of succeeding in this, 
can be an excuse for proceeding by South Bay and 
Skenesborough.'" Still, Burgoyne afterwards made 
as good a use of the lake as he was able to, and by 
this route he brought reinforcements and supplies. 
Depots were formed at both Fort George and Dia- 
mond Island, though eventually all of the stores were 
accumulated at the latter place. 

But the British were not allowed to hold the lake 
unmolested. "While Burgoyne was busy prosecuting 
his campaign in the direction of Saratoga, an expe- 
dition was sent by General Lincoln to his rear. This 
expedition was placed under the command of the ever- 
active Colonel John Brown, who surprised the out- 
works of Ticouderoga, and met with considerable 
success.^ He then embarked with his forces in some 
captured vessels, and sailed to attack Diamond Island, 



(1) — Quoted in Alberm&rle's Memories of the Marquis of Rocking- 
ham, {Vol. ii. p. 331) from the original manuscript in tlie handwriting 
of King George, now in the British Museum. This testimony seems 
to have escaped all of our American writers. The author's attention 
was directed to it by Major-General del'eyster. (2) — Sec Chapter ix. 
on Ticouderoga. 



66 R K V O L U T I ( ) j\ A It Y SCENES. 

situated within four miles of Fort George. In this 
expedition he failed. Tlie artillery of the garrison 
was so well served that he was unable to come to 
quarters. The result we may give in Burgoyne's own 
words. He reports : 

" On the 24th instant, the enemy upon Lake George 
attacked Diamond Island in two divisions. Captain 
Aubrey^ and two companies of the 47th regiment 
had been posted at that island from the time the army 
passed the Hudson River, as a better security for the 
stores at the south end of Lake George than Fort 
George, which is on the continent, and not tenable 
against artillery and numbers. The enemy were 
repulsed by Captain Aubrey with great loss, and pur- 
sued by the gunboats under his command, to the east 
shore, where two of their principal vessels were re- 
taken, together with all the cannon. They had just 
time to set fire to the other batteaux, and retreated 
over the mountain." 

Colonel Brown regained Lincoln's camp in safety. 
He afterwards fell a martyr to liberty. He was a 
man of much character and ability, but he was kept 
from advancement by Ar-nold, who then had the ear 
of General Gates. 

AVhen Burgoyne was defeated and undertook to 
retreat, he started for Lake George, hoping to escape 
by this route to Canada. But the skill of Gates 
finally caused him to capitulate ; and thus Lake 
George once more became free from British rule. 



(1) — Thomas Aubrey, second son of Sir Thomas Aubrey, of Glan- 
borgaushir. entered the army as ensign in 1762. and served in Florida. 
Ho was at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was made major in 1782, and 
afterwards arose to the rank of colonel. He died January 15, 1814. 



1! K vol, I T I II .N A K V S C H N K S . 67 

Nothing of importance occurred in this vicinity 
until 1780, when Sir John Johnson invaded the north- 
ern part of New York, and marked liis track in aslies 
and flames. His object was to reco\er three barrels 
of silver plate buried in the cellar of his former man- 
sion at Johnstown. He succeeded in finding the 
treasure, which was borne away by forty soldiers, each 
of whom carried a portion in his haversack. Sir John 
was pursued on his return by a force under Governor 
Clinton, who went down Lake George to Ticonderoga, 
where he was obliged to abandon the pursuit. 

Jlajor Carlton improved the occasion of this raid to 
strike a blow at Forts Ann and George. Fort Ann 
was taken October 10. The next day, Carlton, while 
marching against Fort George, was met by a party of 
twent3'-five men sent from that place by the com- 
mander, Colonel Chipman, to obtain provisions at Fort 
Edward. They were immediately tired upon by 
Carlton, but managed to escape and return to Fort 
George. Chipman, supposing that it was an enemy's 
scout, sent out all but fourteen of bis men, who met 
and engaged the enemy near Bloody Pond. The 
Americans were signally defeated, the whole force 
being either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. 
Carlton then hurried to the fort, wliich was obliged to 
capitulate. The Americans lost twenty-eight men, 
eight vessels, and twenty-eight flat-boats, which were 
in the lake.' 

With this event military operations on Lake George 



(1) — Hough's Northurii Inv«siou — Washington's Works, Vol. 
p. 269. 



bb K E V O L I T I O iV A It V S C E N E S . 

ended. During the war of 1812 they were not 
renewed, as at that time the lake liad h)st its import- 
ance as part of a great militarj' route. 

For the last eighty-five years Lake George has 
erijo3'ed all the advantages that flow from peace ; and 
yet it still retains its native wilduess. The lack of 
water-power and the lightness of the soil, retard the 
progress of mechanic and agricultural arts ; and the 
shriek of the locomotive will perhaps never be heard 
around these shores. As this mountainous country 
will hardly require or admit the use of railroads, the 
stage-coach will hold undisputed sway, and, under a 
wise management, furnish to tourists, who pass by the 
Lake- George route to the Schroon Lake and the 
Adirondacks, a mode of transit that is at once easy, 
expeditious, and safe. 

Lake George may therefore be considered beyond 
the reach of those invasions which have destroyed the 
value of so many American retreats. Elegant villas 
will multiply along its borders, and its romantic isles 
will, in course of time, be crowned with cottages ; yet 
the visitor at the lake will never miss its old and 
exquisite charm, or fail to find retirement and peace. 




APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 



ACCOUNT OF BERNARD ROMANS. 

t MSS. in Coinieoticut State Library. Revolutionary War, Vol. iii. 
p. 26. Furnished by C'barlcs J. IloaJly, Esq., Librarian.] 

Colony of Connecticut to Bern.\rd Uom.\n.s, Esq' ])'. 
for monies advanced & for which he gave obligations, viz' : 

To ]/ Heman Allen going E.\press after Ethan 

Allen, 120 miles 

To p'' Elisha Phelps fp rec' on file 
To p'' e.xpences 3 Persons from Ben*'" to Albany 
To p'' Benjamin French for Pork 4 bb'" {? rec' 
To p'' Gershom Hewit Expence over lake . 
l"o p'' Jn° Stevens Canaan, E.xpence p rec" . 
To p'' ditto d" ^ d" . 
To p'' George Palmer Esq' for flower 4p d' . 
To my Expences at Albany .... 
To ditto, on road to Still Water, Fort Edward iV 
To ditto, at & near Fort Edward, getting men to- 
gether ^*'- ^ 

'I'o p'' Abram Wing in part for Expences 
T'o d° Cash to John Stevens .... 

To d" horse shoeing 7/6 — Expen' on road 5/- . 
To ])'' Butler for Expen" as Express to Stillwater 

To horse hire for ditto 

To Expen' on road at mead' runbridge & Fort 

Geo: 16 men 1.10.— 

To Expen" on Lake & at Ticonderoga Landing . . 7. 6 
To d° at Ticond" & on Lake returning . . . . 9. 4 
To p"" enlisted men for their Exp". — Peter Cas- 

wel p Rec' '^- '— 

To Expe' on road & at Saratoga, returning . . . 9.— 
To d° at Lanesborough ''" . ' " ' '" 

To p'' Mayhon Wagoner to Transport Prisoners ) ^jo. 6 
from Lake to Lanesborough . . ■ S 



£2.16. 

30. 0.— 

. 9.06 

12. 0.— 

1.10.— 

3.16.— 

2.16.— 

3. 1. 6 

7. 6 

9.— 



9. — 

1. 8.— 

.12. 6 

.12.— 

.15.— 



APPENDIX. 



To ])'' Prisoners Expences at Laneshorough 

To fetchinti my horse rode by Ju" Brown, & 
keeping &' ...... 

To advanced mony to one of Prisoners sick 

To p'' for 10 Loaves Bread for Prisoners 

To lO'" Pork for ditto 

To p"* two Wnggoners from Lanesbor." to Noble- ) ^j 
town 58 miles each — they found themselves ^ 

To p'' Exp' at Lanesbor" 5/- d" on Road 7/6 

To p^ for Ton Iron to M' French, for Chains . 28. 

To Expences advanced on the Road as ,p Bill 
from Hartford to Bennington including a Gun 
bo' for Cap' Mott 50/- for which he must be 
charged & also 3.3/3 Expence paid for ^[ott 

To Expences on the Road .... 



12.— 
7. 6 



12. 6 
10.— 



£131.11.10 



Supra— C 

By Cash rec* of Mess" Ueane Lcffingwell &' 

p Rec' 100. 0. 

By an order on Treasurer in full this acco' this ( qi ii in 

31" day May 1775 S 

£131.11.10 



Errors Excepted 

.\t> B Romans. 



A P P E X I) I X. 73 

II. 

PETITION OF JOHN XORDBEKG. 

[ From T. Y. Miscellaneous Papers, Vol. xxxi. p. 15. N. Y. Revolu- 
tionary Papers, I. p. 206. In Office ol Secretary of State at Albany.) 

" The most respect.\ble Gextlemex, 

Provinci.\l Coxgress in New York. 

" I beg leave to represent to the most respectable Con- 
gress this circumstance. 

'■ I am a native of Sweden, and have been persecuted for 
that, I have been against the French faction there. 

" I liave been in His Britanick Magesty's Service sinse 
January I 758. 

" I have been twice shot through my body here last war 
in America, & I am now 65 years old — reduced of age, 
wounds & and gravels, which may be seen by Doctor Jones'" 
certificate. 

" 17 73. I got permission in Jamaica to go to London 
where I petition to be an Invalid officer, but as a foreigner 
I could not enjoy a commission in England, or Ereland His 
Magisty was graciously pleased to give me the allowance 
for Fort George 7 shilling sterling per day, with liberty to 
live where I please in America, because the fort has hecn 
abauilnni'd tliis 8 year and only 2 men remain there for to 
assist :iiiy i\|iicss going between New York and Canada. 
I arrivrii In rc' in New Y^ork last year in September with 
intention to live in New Y'ork : as I heard nothing els than 
disharmonj- amongst (jentlemen which was not agreeable 
to my age. I resolved to go to Fort George and live there 
in a little Cottage as an Hermit, where I was very happy 
for 6 months. 

" The 1 2 of May last Mr. Romans came & took ])os- 
session of Fort George, Mr. Romans behaved very genteel 
and civil to me. I told that I did not belong to the army 
and may be considered as a half pay officer invalid, and 
convinced him that I was pleagd with Gravell, Mr. Romans 
give me his passport to go to New Lebanon for to recover 
my health, & he told me that in regard to my age, I may 
go where I please. 

" As I can't sell any bill for my subsistance, & I can't live 
upon wind and weather, I therefore beg and implore the 



74 APPENDIX. 

most respectalilc Congress permission to go to England, 
and I intend to go to my native counti-y. I could have gone 
away secret so well as some others have done, but I will 
not upon any account do such a thing — 1 hope the most 
respectable will not do partially to refuse me, because major 
Etherington, Captain Brown, Captain Kelly which is in 
th" army have been permitted to go to England, and it 
may happen they return here again on actual Service, 
which old age & infirmities render me incapable of. 

" As it is the custom among the Christian nations and 
the Turks, that they give subsistance to every Prisoner 
according to their Rank should the most respectable Con- 
gress, have any claim upon me to be a prisoner here, I hope 
they will give me my subsistence fi-om th 1 2 of May last, 
according to My Rank as Captain I implore the favor of 
the most respectable Congress answer. I have the honour 
to remain with great resjiect, 

" Gentlemen 

" Your most obed' humble Servant 

" John Noudberg. 
"New York, decenib'' 1775." 



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